Jericho-The Road Not Taken
by BBC Addict
Summary: How Jericho might have looked if the Jake/Heather coupling had happened. AU. Episode by episode basis. Rated T because Jericho isn't exactly what I'd consider kid-friendly, though any violence/language will be taken from what was in the show.
1. Pilot

Jake took a train from San Diego to Denver. He went to the long-term parking garage and pulled the cover off of his 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner. He was heading back home to Jericho, Kansas.

On arrival, his first stop was Richmond Ranch to see his best friend Stanley and to pick up a strawberry rhubarb pie. Next, he stopped at Gracie's Market to get some flowers. As he walked out, he saw her. Emily. He stared at her and his face dropped slightly as she finished her phone conversation with "I love you, too."

They hugged as Emily asked him what he was doing back.

"I just came for the day to see my grandpa, visit the family."

"Oh, yeah, sure of course. I just didn't hear."

Jake shook his head, avoiding the challenge in her statement-that he needed her permission to come home. "Anyway, how you been? Mom tells me you're teaching at the high school now."

Emily gave a half-hearted laugh. "Yeah, it's weird, huh? I love it. I just bought a house in the Pines."

"The East side on a teacher's salary?" Jake questioned.

"Uh, my fiancé, he's in banking, so…" she said, lowering her head.

"That helps," Jake replied, shifting uncomfortably.

"Roger really loves it here."

"Well, I'm happy for you, Emily."

"How about you, you got somebody?" she asked, shifting the conversation away from herself.

"No."

"I'm sorry."

"No, you're not, you love it," Jake laughed.

After a few moments, Emily asked him, "Where have you been?" killing the lighthearted mood that had existed briefly.

"The Navy," he replied smoothly. Emily turned away, rolling her eyes. "Oh, why do I even bother?" he asked.

"Seriously, where have you been?" she said again.

As he drove away, Jake couldn't help but shake his head. Emily always knew when he was lying. It was annoying. Jake could tell that she still hadn't forgiven him. He didn't know if she ever would.

* * *

After his visit home had turned into yet another argument with his father, Jake and his mother, Gail, stopped by the cemetery to see Jake's grandfather. Gail tried to slip Jake money, but he refused to accept it.

Jake had only made it a few miles outside of Jericho when he saw the mushroom cloud. He couldn't tear his eyes away. He finally looked back at the road, but it was too late. Another car had drifted into his lane and he couldn't avoid it. The cars slammed into each, knocking Jake unconscious and killing the passengers in the other car.

* * *

Jake was limping his way back to Jericho when he heard a faint voice call for help. He stopped, searching for its source.

He saw two children running over the hill. "Please, mister, help! Mister!"

He hobbled toward them.

"I think they're dying!" the little boy cried.

Jake, despite his leg wound, hurried ahead of them.

It was after dark when Jake and the children finally reached the bus. As he entered, he saw the bus driver, collapsed. He checked his pulse.

"Is he alive?" a woman asked.

"Yeah," Jake said. "You ok?"

"Yeah," she sighed, "but I-I think my leg is broken."

"Can you feel your toes?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Don't worry about me. Worry about them."

Jake finally looked at the rest of the frightened students. He was impressed-this woman had managed to send for help and keep the remaining kids from panicking, even though she seemed a little dazed; she was probably in shock.

"Is anybody hurt?" he asked. One student in the back raised his hand. "Stacy's sick, she can't breathe."

Jake hobbled toward him. "What's wrong? What happened?" He stared at the little girl clasping her hands over her throat.

"When the bus stopped, she was like this," the boy explained, imitating her face.

"It's ok, Stacy, let me see it." He gently removed her hands while continuing to reassure her. He saw a large bruise. "Do you have an ice pack?" he asked the woman. "We gotta stop the swelling now."

She looked around. "Lucas, the first aid kit is under the seat."

Lucas ran the kit back to Jake, who took out the ice pack and placed it on Stacy's throat. She said, "Please-" and stopped breathing.

Jake froze for few moments, staring in horror. Suddenly, he pulled himself out of it, muttering, "Think. Think." He straightened slightly. "Alright, I need everyone's help right now. Who has a pen? Does anyone?"

"We have pencils," Lucas offered.

"No, I need a tube, something hollow, um, a straw."

A girl offered hers.

"Let me see it, come on." He examined it. "It's too thin. Does anyone else have a juice box? Get them out. Get out some bandaids. Alright, everyone, give your straws to Julie, ok? Hurry." Jake pulled out his pocketknife and disinfected it. "Tape them together," he instructed Julie.

Jake made an incision and gently inserted the bundle of straws. He blew into them, praying it would work. Finally, Stacy took a short breath and then her eyes fluttered open. Thank God, Jake thought, squeezing his eyes shut. He sat down heavily on an empty seat. He happened to glance up and saw the woman staring at him with wonder.

Jake made it outside and pulled the deer out from the under the front tire. He came back and sat in the driver's seat, the gash in his leg throbbing. "Alright, everyone, sit down," he said as he started the bus.

"Hurry," the woman said as the children around her began chattering in nervous excitement.

Jake and the woman both fought to remain conscious as he drove back to Jericho. Eyeing the gas gauge, Jake asked, "Does this bus have a gas can?"

She simply shook her head.

"The bus, if it stops…" Jake said.

"Ok," she said, turning toward the children. "Kids, listen to me. If the bus stops again, we're gonna need you to walk back to town and get help, ok?"

"I don't know where we are," Lucas said.

"When you get to the stop sign, take a left, ok? Turn left," Jake replied.

"Which was is left?"

Jake sighed and hung his head in frustration, but the woman knew what to do. "Hold up your hands, stick out your thumbs. The one that makes the L, that's your left."

Fortunately, the bus made it back to Jericho. Jake honked the horn repeatedly as they drove in. He exchanged relieved glances with the woman. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Heather," she said with a slight smile.

"Jake."

"It's nice to meet you, Jake," she said, the stress of the day beginning to take its toll-her voice shook with emotion.

He smiled back at her, nodding. "You, too."

As he was helped to the ambulance, he realized he'd never been so thankful to see his family before. He mentioned the empty prison bus he'd seen to Eric. As his mother fussed over him, Jake tried to relax. He couldn't resist one final crack. "You know, I go away for a few years and the whole town goes to hell."

"I'm so glad you're home," his mother whispered.

"Yeah, we'll see," he replied. As he laid his head back, he replayed the events of the last few hours, dwelling mostly on Heather. There had been nobody there to meet her.

* * *

Heather spent the night at the med center. She didn't have a broken leg; it was only a sprained ankle, but Dr. April Green had instructed her not to walk on it yet and she had no other way to get home. As she tried to find a comfortable position for her cumbersome ankle boot, her thoughts continually wandered back to Jake. She'd heard a little about him, usually in connection with whispers about 'Jonah,' 'trouble,' and 'that poor boy.' Heather didn't know what that was about. All she knew was that Jake had rescued them, a real knight in ripped up jeans.

* * *

**A/N: I'm not trying to do anything too original here; just tweaking a bit, episode by episode. I haven't finished season one yet, so there's still time if anyone thinks of ways I could improve this. I am just focusing on Jake/Heather interactions, and anything I think is significant to their characters. I don't want to include too much about the rest of the episode because there won't be any significant changes there. This is really just how the show might have looked if Jake and Heather got together instead of Jake and Emily reconnecting.**


	2. Fallout

The next morning, Jake saw clouds in the distance. He knew what that meant-an irradiated rainstorm. He was still limping and very sore, but he moved as quickly as he could. He had to warn everyone. He went inside the med center looking for April and he found her checking in on Heather.

"April, does the clinic have a fallout shelter?"

"Yes. What's going on?"

"It's bad, come on." Jake locked gazes with Heather for a moment before following April.

* * *

"Mind if I pitch in?" Heather asked as she entered the shelter.

"Know how to strip wires?" Jake asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Ever since junior high." Jake shot her a glance of surprise and admiration. "Yeah, I was that popular," she said, half-defensively, half-jokingly.

"Alright, great, check the fan belt. I think it's frayed."

"Well, then, you might want to get another one. Any mid-century American car would be a good match." She examined the mechanism. "And check the brushers, we don't the motor to seize up."

"Ok, alright," Jake said, holding up a screwdriver. "You take over. I'll look for a fan belt."

Heather smiled. She looked at the other man working on the system. "Excuse me, sir, you're doing that wrong."

Jake chuckled to himself as he limped away. This was a woman of hidden talents.

* * *

As he returned, he saw sparks. "Turn it off!" he exclaimed. He threw the fan belt he'd retrieved against the wall. They weren't going to be able to fix the ventilation system.

April came in, a group of patients behind her. "Jake, everyone's ready."

"Don't let them in here! It's not safe."

"Jake, the storm's almost here and everyone's scared. Do we have air or not?"

"We seal them up in here, they're gonna die."

Jake quickly decided that they had to take everyone to the other shelter at Town Hall. The patients were loaded onto several buses and ambulances. Jake drove one bus. Despite the dire situation, he caught Heather's gaze in the mirror and they smiled at each other. It made him feel like everything was going to be okay. At least until they arrived and his brother told him that only ten people could stay.

Racking his brain, Jake suddenly remembered-the salt mine! Everyone else could go there. It wasn't ideal, but it was the best they could do.

Seeing Jake's concern, Heather touched his wrist. "Hey. It's gonna be okay." She gave him a small smile.

Jake looked up at her at nodded.

* * *

Heather tried to help calm the crowd of people as they filed into the mine. Once everyone was inside, she made her way over to where Jake and Shep were wiring up charges of dynamite to seal the entrance until the storm passed. "Where'd you learn how to do that?"

"I knew a guy once," Jake said evasively.

"Did you blow him up?" she teased.

Jake snorted as he and Heather once again exchanged smiles.

Suddenly, a message crackled across the walkie-talkie; it was Emily begging for help out at Richmond Ranch. Jake scrambled to the handset but by the time he got to it, Emily was gone. Heather bit her lip; she knew Jake was going to check it out because that's the kind of person he was. _Let him be safe_, she prayed.

* * *

Jake found Emily in a stand-off with an escaped prisoner dressed like the sheriff. He had an arm around Bonnie Richmond's neck and a gun to her head. Another man was hiding just around the corner, pointing his gun at Emily. Jake took him out, then exchanged shots with the other man. Emily took the opportunity and shot him. Jake sent Bonnie inside, then had to gently coerce Emily, who was in shock, inside as well.

Once she recovered, she adopted the hostile tone once again. "I thought you were gone. Why are you here?"

Jake leaned away from her. "I'm trying to keep you safe."

Emily shook her head. "It's never safe around you." She stood up and walked away.

Jake propped his knees on his elbows and rubbed his hand across his forehead. He was worried about the people in the mine. How much would he rather be there right now, with Heather…

* * *

**A/N: Remember when Jake was trying to get Emily inside and let 'babe' slip out a few times? That doesn't happen in this universe. I chose not to write out that dialogue so I had to let you know.**


	3. Four Horsemen

Jake, still in the Richmonds' storm cellar, struggled to remain calm as Emily withdrew into herself, Bonnie kept asking where Stanley was, and he communicated with his brother about the situation at the mine. The ventilation system may have been damaged by the explosion; everyone inside could suffocate. Heather…

Stanley finally burst in, drenched. Jake radioed April for instructions. She very calmly told him what to do and mentioned that if Stanley started throwing up, he was going to die.

As Stanley described what he had been doing, he mentioned he'd seen tanks. Jake spoke with his father, saying they needed to see what was going on elsewhere. Emily demanded to accompany him so she could find Roger. Their argument was interrupted by the absence of drumming rain. Jake sent Bill and Emily with Stanley to the clinic. Jake came as close as he possibly could to sprinting toward his borrowed truck, Jimmy right behind. They raced back to the mine.

Meanwhile, Heather had her hands full. It seemed she was the only one not panicking, the only one others were looking to for reassurance. She wandered over to another teacher, Mr. Rennie. She knew he was claustrophobic, so she did her best to calm him down. However, he couldn't control himself and began screaming. Gray and Shep hauled him away.

The crowd in the mine fell silent as the sound of machinery was heard and the rocks around them began trembling. Finally, a sizeable mound was dislodged and light streamed in. A fireman, Eric, and Jake crawled in. After giving instructions, Jake scanned the crowd and located his object. He heaved a sigh of relief as he walked toward Heather. "You okay?" he whispered.

She nodded and smiled with relief. "I think so."

Their moment was cut short by Gray and Shep hauling Scott Rennie's dead body out of the mine.

* * *

Once at the clinic, Jake made a beeline toward Stanley. He was relieved to find him alive and well.

Heather managed to snag April for a moment to ask what had happened to Mr. Rennie. April told her he'd had a heart attack.

As Jake was leaving, he spotted Heather slumped in a chair in the waiting area. He sat down next to her. "Hey."

"Hey." She wiped her eyes, took a deep breath, and looked up at him. "How's Stanley?"

"He's still an idiot, so that a good sign," he replied with a mischievous half-smile.

"I'm glad."

Jake reached over and squeezed her hand. "Were you and Mr. Rennie close?"

Heather nodded. "We worked together for three years."

"I'm sorry. Let me take you home. And by take, I mean walk." That elicited a giggle from Heather.

* * *

Heather grabbed a blanket and huddled up on her recliner. Jake had mentioned he and Emily would be heading toward Wichita to see what was going on out there. Heather was worried. They didn't know how dangerous it might be. She pulled the blanket up closer to her chin and tried to sleep. Finally, she gave up trying. She grabbed a bottle of ibuprofen, downed a few pills, and walked to Bailey's. She was just in time to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a Chinese newscast.

Afterwards, she sat with Mary Bailey and tried to locate where the explosions had been located. She also tried to talk to Shep about what had happened to Scott Rennie, but he wasn't forthcoming; and then Gray stepped in between them, daring her to push any further.

She left Bailey's, leaning against the wall just outside the door. She saw Emily and Jake arguing and overheard Emily yell, "You're supposed to be the one who's dead, not him!" Heather saw the hurt register on Jake's face. She ached for him, and a little bit for herself. Obviously, there was some history there.

She remained against the wall, watching as the three other men designated to scope out the area got into their vehicles. She watched Jake's mother kiss him goodbye. She followed him with her eyes until he turned the corner. Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself off the wall and re-entered the bar. Mary passed her a note. It was from Shep.

_Dear Heather, I want you to know the truth about Scott Rennie. It was my fault. Gray wanted me to keep him quiet and his heart went out. I should have called for a doctor, but I was scared, I let him die. I'll never forgive myself. You were a good friend to Scott, a better friend than I ever was. - Shep_

* * *

Just after nightfall, Jake was back with a flight data recorder in tow. He'd come across several downed planes. A handful of townspeople crammed into the sheriff's office, including Emily and Heather. Eventually, Jake's keen ear picked up a radio message that confirmed Roger's plane had landed safely. Emily was giddy with relief. Jake watched Emily with an expression of mingled relief and sadness. Heather watched Jake with a similar expression on her own face.

She still had the same look on her face half an hour later as she sat alone at a table while the rest of the town enjoyed themselves at the barbecue. Suddenly, a plate appeared in front of her face. She looked up as Jake sat down kitty-corner from her. "She looks so much better. You really made her happy." Jake followed her gaze to where Emily stood.

"I owed her."

"Well, I'd say this makes you even," Heather replied.

Jake shook his head. "Not even close."

Heather stared at him, perplexed and a little sad. "Sounds serious."

"You have no idea." Jake fell silent for a moment. He shook his head slightly, as if snapping out of a daydream. "So, a chance for a real conversation. Neither of us is almost dying or in shock, so what's left to talk about?" They both chuckled. "How long have you been in Jericho?" he continued, more seriously.

"Three years. I grew up in New Bern. I went to college in Topeka. Once I graduated, I knew I wasn't a big city girl, I wanted to go somewhere that felt like home. Eventually, I found Jericho and it was a good fit."

"That's great. Jericho never felt like a good fit for me-I was always getting into trouble. Must be nice for you to be close to home so you can still visit your family."

Heather shook her head. "I don't have anybody left. My mom died in a car accident when I was 10. My dad died of cancer just before I went to college. I was an only child, so once he died I was on my own."

"I'm sorry. I can't imagine not having my family around." He paused, then stared her straight in the eye. "Wanna trade?"

Heather smiled at Jake's attempt to cheer her up. They continued chatting easily. Eventually they noticed the crowd was starting to break up. Jake wound up walking Heather home again. As they reached Heather's porch, Jake said, "I'll bet you'll be glad to finally get off that leg."

"What about you?" Heather shot back.

"I'm planning on collapsing when I get home," Jake admitted.

"Well, thank you, and good night," Heather said.

"Night." Jake and Heather exchanged another long look before Heather went inside. Jake turned and slowly walked home. With no more adrenaline racing through his system and without Heather's company as a pleasant distraction, he had the luxury of feeling just how much his leg hurt.

Heather, hidden behind the curtains of her window, watched Jake walk away.


	4. Walls of Jericho

The next evening, Heather approached Bailey's just as everyone else was leaving. She spotted Jake. "Is the generator out?"

Jake shook his head. "Out of booze." They both laughed as Heather rolled her eyes at him.

"Any more images?"

"No, just the same loop. Come on, let's take a walk." They headed off, no real direction in mind. As they walked, Jake took a good look at the town, noting all the changes. "Since when did the Pizza Garden become the Cyberjolt Café?"

"When the Health Department shut down the Pizza Garden."

"What?!"

Heather groaned. "Oh, don't tell me you liked the Pizza Garden."

"I used to work there washing dishes."

"Oh, you must not have done a very good job," she said, bumping his arm with her shoulder. Then they heard a window shatter and went to investigate. It was the pharmacy. Heather went for help while Jake climbed inside. He bounced his flashlight around until something crashed into a rack behind him. Turning, Jake saw a man fall to the floor. His face was covered with burns. Heather returned with Jimmy, Bill, Stanley, and Bonnie. Bill and Jimmy just stared at the man and refused to help. Heather took Bonnie outside while Jake and Stanley picked the stranger up and carried him to the clinic.

After seeing the man settled and checking for any identification, Jake and Stanley were instructed to shower in case the man's clothing had been contaminated.

* * *

Heather, carrying a gas can, was on a mission to find Jake. She pushed through a door, calling his name. Jake stuck his head out of the shower.

"Oh," Heather said, a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Had to take a shower," Jake explained.

"Go ahead," she stammered.

"No, I did; I just took a shower." Jake smirked at her, slightly amused by her discomfort.

"Oh, right." Heather giggled nervously, not knowing where to look.

"So, what's up?" Jake asked as he finally stepped out, towel wrapped around his waist, chest glistening with moisture, hand running through his hair.

"I…" Heather glanced up at Jake, then immediately looked off to the side. She barreled through her speech, steadily not looking at Jake. "April said that the medical center was running low on gas for the generator and it occurred to me that if we had a length of hose and a funnel we could siphon gas out of our cars. Then it occurred to me there's all that gas in the tanks at Murthy's gas station and if we could get enough suction we could get all the gas we wanted…"

"Would a water pump do it?" he asked, leaning a little closer to her to grab a set of scrubs off the cart.

Finally looking up at him, she nodded.

"Great. Stanley and I will meet you out front in a bit."

* * *

Heather accompanied them first to the Greens' house so Jake and Stanley could get some decent clothes, then they scrounged around for the supplies they would need. Stanley returned to his farm to find a container. Jake and Heather went to Mr. Murthy's house just before sunrise and wound up arguing about the gas. He finally agreed to let them take what they needed. They hurried to the station.

Stanley pulled up with an old watering tank. Jake and Stanley both jumped up. "No, we can't use steel, there's too much risk of static," Heather stated.

"We don't have time to look for anything else!" Jake argued.

"Well, who's going to fill it?"

Jake and Stanley immediately began bickering. "I'm already going to die, I've been irradiated," Stanley said.

"Shut up! We're going to live to be 100, remember?"

"Our pacts never work out!"

"Let's just do this before we think about it too much!" Heather screamed.

"Stanley, get off the truck," Jake said, shoving him down.

Heather and Stanley stood off to the side, watching Jake frantically turn the handle on the water pump, trying to fill the tank as quickly as possible.

They pulled up at the clinic just as the generator died. They jumped out, racing to get the hose from the tank to the generator, only to find the lid of the watering tank was stuck. Heather and Jake were arguing about the safety of opening it while Stanley jumped up and knocked the lid off. It came free without sparking and starting on fire.

"Oh, my God," Heather whispered.

Stanley stared. "That was dumb."

They filled the generator and everyone inside the clinic was fine. Jake and April were checking on the mystery man when Eric barged in, bursting with pride over gathering 75 gallons of gas. He was crestfallen when April told him they had it covered.

* * *

Later that afternoon, a group of people from Jericho headed out to the location given by the mysterious man. A group of refugees from Denver was coming. Heather rode with Jake. She noticed he was upset and tried to coax the story out of him. He resisted at first, but eventually wound up telling her about the argument between Jimmy, Bill, Eric, Mr. Hawkins, and himself about waking the man up. Jake hadn't wanted to. He wouldn't stand for torture. Jimmy, Bill, and Hawkins had argued it was for their own safety, so it was alright. Eric had eventually agreed, overruling Jake. After waking him up, he died in excruciating pain.

The convoy reached the camp. Everyone jumped out of their vehicles. As they approached, their hearts sunk. They were too late to save any of the refugees.

* * *

The entire town was present for the funeral service that evening. Jake spotted Heather come in and waved her over. As Johnston asked everyone who had lost someone to stand, Jake silently took Heather's hand.

As they left, Emily came up to Jake. Heather withdrew a few steps and pretended to talk to someone else.

"Jake, you're a good man for trying to help someone you didn't know," Emily said before walking away with another woman.

Heather glanced over at Jake's face. She couldn't believe that Emily was just now realizing Jake was a good man. She stood a few moments longer until Jake walked over to her. "Walk you home?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied with a soft smile.


	5. Federal Response

A few nights later, Jake, Stanley, Heather, and the IRS lady, otherwise known as Mimi, had gathered at Bailey's to play cards and they played straight through until the next morning. Heather was nearly asleep on her stool. She closed her eyes, resting her head on her hand with her elbow propped up on the bar, listening to the others converse.

"So, Mimi, what would you be doing if you were back home in D.C.?" Jake asked.

"Sleeping," she replied readily. "You know the hardest thing about sleeping in this dump? The quiet. I don't know how you stand it. It's like my brain is an echo chamber."

"Yeah. Why do you think I left town?" Jake asked.

Jimmy walked up. "I could tell her." That caused Heather to snap her eyes open.

"Hey, watch it Jimmy."

"Let me guess," Mimi said, studying Jake. "The pressure got to be too much."

"Wow," Jake said in mock amazement.

"I'm a people-reader. I'm betting captain of the football team, prom king, most likely to succeed. Am I right?"

Jake exchanged glances with Stanley, Eric, and Jimmy after each of Mimi's suggestions.

"Don't quit your day job," Jimmy replied.

"Why?" Mimi laughed. "What am I missing here?"

"I think he beat up the prom king," Stanley said.

"Oh, yeah, I did," Jake said slowly, remembering a moment long forgotten. Heather smiled to herself, remembering her own incident with the prom queen her senior year…

"Eric, you must have a million stories about your brother screwing up, right?" Stanley joked.

Eric half-smiled, then turned serious. "Yeah, at least that many."

Jake turned, eyes hardening, and sipped his coffee. The smile fell from Stanley's face. Heather frowned. Eric and Mary stepped to the other side of the bar.

Suddenly, the lights flickered on and the jukebox began blaring, momentarily deafening everyone. Jake hopped up and unplugged it. Phones all over town began ringing. The same message played everywhere:_ Hello. This is Assistant Secretary Walsh from the Department of Homeland Security…_

* * *

Jake entered the Mayor's Office. After discussing the situation briefly, Johnston paused, staring at Jake. "Well, you look like crap."

"Didn't sleep."

"Well, next time, put the cards down and go home." The harsh words were softened by an affectionate look in his eyes and a slight smile on his face.

Jake ran through a few things they should be doing while the power was on; each time, Eric or Johnston pointed out they had done so already.

"Alright, looks like you got it covered." Jake headed out the door.

"Where you going?" Johnston asked.

"Home," Jake replied, not stopping.

* * *

Jake hadn't been home long when he heard his mother vacuuming. He went downstairs only to be met by a question. "When we find out what's going on, are you going to stay or go?"

"I can't think about that yet."

"Well, I can't help it." She tried to convince Jake that he needed to talk to his father, to explain what he'd been doing all those years he'd been gone. They were interrupted by a power spike.

Power lines blew throughout town. Fires started. Emily, outside the library with Heather and a group of students, was hit by a loose cable and was knocked to the ground. As April and the paramedics administered to Emily, Heather did a headcount. "Where's Ashley?" she cried.

"She went to get Alice," Lucas replied.

"Alice? _Alice in Wonderland_?" At Lucas' nod, Heather ran inside.

* * *

When they had cut power so that the fires could safely be put out, they realized they also had stopped the water. Jake raced off to the pumping station with Stanley to try to get it back on.

Emily woke up and gasped, "Heather!" April interpreted that to mean Heather was inside the library. She told Eric, who grabbed a jacket and raced inside. He found Heather and Ashley, but they were unable to get out until the water came back on. Once the sprinklers had gone off, the trio stumbled outside.

As Jake returned, he spotted Heather off to the side. "Oh, my God. Heather!" He ran up to her and gave her a tight hug. "Are you alright?"

She nodded, coughing.

"I'll have to find you later, ok? Eric's house is about to burn down." She nodded again. He ran over to Eric. The fire department was already spread too thin to be able to help, so Jake raced off on his own. Hawkins met up with him and together they managed to stop the fire from spreading, but they couldn't save the house.

* * *

Jake finally had a moment to relax back at home. It was short-lived, however, as Gail soon was telling him he needed to have a talk with his father. Jake nodded and took a deep breath. He joined his father in the living room.

Johnston poured two glasses of scotch. Jake, wanting to get everything over and done with, dove right in. "You know what the hardest part of growing up your son was? I always knew you were a good judge of character and you thought mine was lousy. I left town determined to prove you wrong, but everywhere I went, I seemed to prove you right." He paused and took a sip of his drink. "Dad, I wasn't just in San Diego."

"I don't care," Johnston interrupted. "If you need to tell me, I'll listen, but wherever you went, whatever you did, it changed you. A stupid little punk may have left home, but a pretty decent fellow came back. I can live with that."

Jake nodded in relief. He didn't really want to talk about what he'd been doing while he was gone.

As the Green family sat around the dinner table, they went around in a circle, describing their dream meals. Stanley burst in. "They're getting a feed at Bailey's."

The Greens joined the crowd inside the bar. Jake scanned the room; seeing Heather, he went to stand next to her. They'd just started exchanging greetings when the TV picture died, replaced by static. Then, the glasses hanging in the racks started shaking. Jake, clasping Heather's hand, dragged her outside with him. Everyone else followed. They all stopped dead in their tracks, staring at the two missiles flying overhead.


	6. 9:02

Everyone stood frozen in the street for a long moment. Eventually, speculations began flying about where the missiles were going. Suddenly, the town went dark again. Jake realized the missiles had caused an EMP-electromagnetic pulse-which had blown out everything containing a circuit board, which was pretty much everything.

* * *

Two weeks later and power had still not been restored. Kids were using their cellphones as baseballs. Vandalism, accidental or intentional, was rampant. The sheriff's office was receiving countless complaints of trespassing, shortages, breakages. People were turning against each other, each only thinking about their personal advantage.

Jake and Heather were having coffee in the otherwise deserted bar. They chatted off-and-on with Mary. She was carrying a stack of boxes past the door when her path was blocked. "Uh-uh, we are not doing this again, Mitch. You're not welcome here," she said to the scruffy-looking thug.

"Come on, Mary, after everything that's happened. We're just looking for a cold beer." His soft voice had a dangerous undertone and his body language was threatening.

"Well, we haven't served cold anything in a long time."

"Well, then, just give me whatever you've got." Mary stood rooted the spot, staring him down. "Or I'll get it myself, " he said, taking a step closer.

Jake gritted his teeth. "You might wanna rethink that." Heather held her breath and shrank back a little bit.

Mitch approached them. "Well, look who's back in town." He stopped right between Jake and Heather, his body facing Jake at the moment. "Everyone thought you went up in the blast, but I knew you'd find a way to survive." Jake pointedly ignored the hand Mitch proffered. Mitch turned his head slightly and leered at Heather. Jake stood, moving between them, forcing Mitch to take a few steps back. "Come on, let's not do it like this. 'Sides, if anyone should have a grudge, it's me, right? You left me holding the bag when you blew town."

"You know what, you're right. I don't need to kick your ass again." Jake and Heather started to walk away, but Mitch grabbed Jake's arm, suggesting their conversation wasn't over.

Hawkins walked in and saw the two men glaring at each other, postures tense. "Hey, is everything alright?"

Mitch glanced over at him. "You travel with your own personal bodyguard now? Probably not a bad idea." He turned to face Hawkins. "There's no trouble here, just two old friends catching up."

"Well maybe you should do that some other place. Some other time," Hawkins said, taking a few steps closer.

"See you soon, right pal?" Mitch said to Jake, with a look that said their next meeting would not go well for Jake.

"What was that?" Hawkins asked.

"Don't worry about it, I got it covered."

Hawkins gave Jake a long look. "Okay," he replied.

As Heather walked away with Jake, she asked, "What was that, really?"

Jake sighed. "The past always comes back to haunt you. Especially in this town. I did some stupid stuff as a kid and Mitch was involved."

Heather hesitated for a moment. She didn't want to push Jake too hard, but she really wanted to know. "From the looks of him, I'd say it was a little more than stupid kid stuff."

Jake smiled wryly. "Yeah. I'll tell you about it sometime. I'm going with my mom out to the ranch this afternoon to check on the horses. Catch you later?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

* * *

Gail was chattering away, but Jake wasn't listening. He was preoccupied by thoughts shifting between Mitch Cafferty and how Jake had said he'd tell Heather about his history with Mitch Cafferty. Gail finally noticed Jake wasn't responding, so she asked, "What's wrong?"

"Just tired." Jake headed off to fill the water buckets. Gail heard the horses whinnying; something must have upset them. She peered inside, but it was too dark to see anything. Suddenly, the horses bolted out, knocking her down. Two men were riding behind, urging the herd on.

* * *

Back at home, April put Gail's arm in a sling. Jake was furious and was about to go after Mitch when Johnston and Eric barred the way. "That last time you got mixed up with Mitch Cafferty, you left town and a boy was dead," Johnston said.

"I'm not that guy anymore," Jake said defensively.

"Oh, yeah? Then what's this?" Johnston asked, pulling a gun from Jake's waist. "If this family breaks the law, how are we supposed to enforce it?"

Jake sighed and frowned.

* * *

Jake managed to sneak out to the airfield; he'd heard someone was selling horses out there. He found the Greens' stolen horses in a pen. He turned and saw someone he didn't expect-Dale Turner.

Mitch came up from behind and knocked Jake out just as Jake started to ask Dale what he was doing.

Once Jake came to, Mitch began circling him. "I went to jail that night you bailed on us. My best friend had half his head blown off."

"I told you I wasn't gonna rob anybody," Jake said. After a few more insults from Mitch, Jake said, "You come near my family again, I'll kill you."

"Now there's the Jake I know," Mitch replied. "Get up. I'm taking you to see Jonah." Mitch pulled him up. Jake grabbed his arm and then kneed him in the stomach. They struggled for a while, but Eric and Jimmy showed up, scaring Mitch off.

Back at the station, Jake and Dale had a little heart-to-heart about how dangerous it was to be involved with people like Mitch and Jonah. Finally, Dale admitted he might know where Mitch was. Jake and Eric followed Dale to an abandoned barn. They had another confrontation, but this time Eric and Jake brought Mitch back to town and threw him in a cell.

* * *

Stanley Richmond had also had a bad day. He'd found corn worms in his crop and he couldn't get any pesticide. Feeling that he was being ordered around and taken advantage of, he decided to burn out the infected patches of his field. Mimi, taking matters into her own hands, arranged for some kids to steal pesticide from Gracie. Stanley found out and returned it. Finally, as he was about to start throwing gasoline on his field, a group of about fifty people showed up to help Stanley harvest.

Jake was the waterboy. As he made his way around the field, he found Hawkins. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?" he said with a smile.

"Not really," Hawkins replied, "but if there's anything we can do to help out, we're going to do it. This is our home, too."

Jake nodded as he continued on his way. He briefly nodded at Emily as he 'aimlessly wandered' over to where Heather was working.

"Thirsty?" he asked, holding out a full cup.

"Thanks," she replied, downing the glass with a few gulps.

"You got your ankle boot off," he said, looking down at her feet.

"Yeah. You didn't notice this morning?" she asked.

"No," he said, surprised at himself. It must have been the early hour or the run-in with Mitch. Well, the first run-in with Mitch.

"I'm surprised. I was finally able to keep up with you instead of continually winding up three steps behind," Heather laughed. Jake had a much longer stride than her and he generally walked fast, always needing to get somewhere.

* * *

Jake stopped by the jail after leaving Stanley's; it was time for lights out. As he removed the lantern from the cell, Mitch asked, "You ready for this Jake? You know he's coming for me. And he's gonna come looking for you." Jake closed and relocked the door. "No running away this time!" Mitch called after him.


	7. Long Live the Mayor

Everyone in town was joining in the preparations for Halloween. It brought the town together for a change, giving them something to look forward to.

Eric was sitting in the Mayor's office, watching the hubbub; it was a refreshing change from a street either abandoned or filled with panicked activity. Jake and Heather wandered in. Jake took a seat on the corner of the desk while Heather sat in a chair.

"What was that candy we always used to fight over?" Eric asked. "It's been bugging me all morning."

Jake frowned in thought for a few moments. "Mallow cups!" he exclaimed. "That's what they were called."

"They were the best," Eric said.

Jake nodded. "I always got so much more candy than you."

"Yeah, because you cheated. You'd trick-or-treat the whole neighborhood in one costume, then do it again in another."

"Come on, Eric, everybody did that-except for you."

"Yeah." He fell silent and let his eyes wander again. He caught a glimpse of Emily carrying a pumpkin. "You and Emily were the worst. Didn't you hit the Stevens' seven times one year?"

"Yeah. I had a hard time convincing Mom I needed more than one costume…" Jake smiled at the memory. "Hey, at least I didn't keep it all for myself. Em and I split everything fifty-fifty."

Heather chuckled. "A regular little Bonnie and Clyde." She thought back to the conversation she'd had with Emily a few days ago.

_"Is it inappropriate that I keep asking questions about him?"_

_"Why would it be?" Emily examined Heather's face a little closer. "Do you have a thing Jake?"_

_"No," Heather replied immediately. "Except for yes, maybe, a little bit."_

_"A little bit?" Emily said._

_"I'm sorry, this is weird."_

_"It's not weird. It was a long time ago. Just be careful, ok?"_

_"Why?"_

_"There's a lot of things about Jake you don't know."_

Heather's reverie was interrupted by Jake tensing, then standing up. She craned her neck to look at what had caught his attention. All she could see was a car, blue, Plymouth Roadrunner by the looks of it. Jake strode out of the office without a word. She and Eric exchanged puzzled glances.

Jake headed into the sheriff's office. "Hello, Jonah."

"Jake. It's been a long time. I hear Mitchell's been causing some trouble."

"Oh, come on, Jonah, Mitch doesn't get out of bed in the morning without running it by you first."

"I'm not sure that's true. Anyway, I'm here to talk bail."

"Ok-the food, from the train Dale found? Give it back."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Then, you stay away-you, Mitch, Joe Kelly…do we have a deal?"

Mitch was yelling from the cell in the back. "Shut up, Mitchell," Jonah shouted back at him. "Deal."

Jake walked with Jonah back out to his car. "There's not a lot of work hauling freight these days. The old side business is becoming a full time gig. I could use a guy like you out there, Jake. Lot of stuff on the roads just waiting for somebody to take it."

Jake shook his hand. "I want your word you and your guys will stay away from town."

"Already said I would." He lowered his gaze to the ground, but he voice became dark and threatening. "Ask again, a guy might think you were calling him a liar."

"And that's my car." Jake sighed in exasperation.

"You left it out there."

"Yeah, but it was destroyed."

"Lovingly restored. Told ya there was a lot of good stuff on the roads." Jonah got in. "Besides, she was mine first."

Emily had been watching. Once the car disappeared, she confronted Jake. "Why were you talking to him?"

"Relax, it had nothing to do with you. He was just here to talk about Mitch."

"He's my father, it has everything to do with me. After you left, he kept calling, he came to the house. He was everywhere. He wanted me to forgive him for what happened with Chris. I'll never forgive him for what happened to Chris." She leaned against the wall, tears threatening to fall. "Now you're, back, he's back…"

"He's not back. After tomorrow, he's done, he's gone."

* * *

Jake went out to meet Jonah, without Mitch. Gray had returned from his reconnaissance mission and managed to talk Eric out of the deal.

"How can I fix this?" Jake asked.

Jonah's only answer was to walk back to his car and drive away, the food truck following behind.

That evening, two of Jonah's men entered the station and at gunpoint forced Bill to release Mitch. They wove through the crowd gathered in the street. Once they reached the edge of the crowd, the three broke into a run.

Gray chased after them with a rifle. He was just about to fire when Jake knocked the gun from his hands.

"You're letting them get away!" Gray objected.

"Instead of what? Starting a fire fight on Main Street?" Jake asked, pinning Gray against a wall.

"This has to be answered, Jake!"

"I can talk to Jonah. He lived up to his end of the deal."

"Why are you protecting this guy, Jake?"

"I'm protecting this town. Jonah can get things we need."

"Like what?"

"He can get food, gas, ammo-could you get that stuff if we needed it tomorrow? Could you?" He slammed Gray against the wall for emphasis. "He can." Jake released Gray. "We do this my way now."

* * *

Jake and Heather stood looking over the engine of a beat-up old truck. "You said you could get me a car. Is this thing gonna die on me halfway out there?"

"Charlotte? Not a chance, she's sturdy." Jake climbed in and slammed the door. "So, uh, be careful."

"I'm only going ten miles."

"I meant with him. I talked to Emily."

"Yeah, what'd she tell you?" Jake scoffed.

"Enough. What you wouldn't the night of the barbecue. Look, I don't know if she told me the whole story or just her side, but I know it's risky, going out there."

"Trust me. I know what I'm doing." He started the truck. "Look, when I get back, I promise I'll tell you the whole story."

"Ok," Heather replied in a whisper.

* * *

Jake entered Jonah's compound. A group of men surrounded him. They were about to beat him up when a whistle halted them. "Let him go!" Jonah shouted. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Jake tried to renegotiate. "Keep Mitch, and keep the food. You can sell the food through Gracie Leigh's market in town, and take your cut off the top of supplies that we have and you don't. Fresh water, crops, salt from the mine." He paused, and since Jonah didn't cut him off, he continued. "In exchange, you'll guarantee that your business stays away from town. And we'll send a trailer to pick up supplies, you don't come to us."

"I'll think about it," Jonah said. "Now let's talk about what I need. I want to talk to Emily."

"She doesn't want to see you."

"She blames me for Chris's death. Maybe things would be different if she knew whose fault it was."

"Hey, I didn't send Chris on that job, you did. I tried to talk him out of it."

"You left him alone! He needed a lookout!"

"A lookout? He needed a father!"

"Maybe Emily needs to find out what you did."

"I told Emily everything a long time ago."

"Did she forgive you?"

"No."

"Neither do I. Get her to see me."

"I can't."

Jonah turned away. "Then I guess we don't have a deal," he called over his shoulder.

* * *

Jake sat over a drink at Bailey's. Eric wandered in and joined him. "How'd it go with Jonah?"

"I think I may have gotten us into a fight we don't want to be a part of."

"Nice."

"How was your day?"

"I think I'm becoming Gray Anderson's yes-man. Worst part is I don't know if that's a bad thing."

"Big day for the Green boys, huh?"

"You avoiding going home telling Dad?"

"Hell, yeah. You?"

"Same."

Jake poured Eric a drink. "Remember that time we set the carpet in Dad's office on fire? All you had to do was stick to the story and we'd have been fine."

"You wanted me to tell Dad I had a seizure and knocked over his desk lamp." He took a sip. "Any brilliant ideas to get us out of this one?"

"Not at the moment."

"Well, I say we finish these drinks, go home, and figure out how to explain all this to Dad in a way that won't kill him."

* * *

They entered the house and met Heather running down the stairs. "Hey, what are you doing here?" Jake asked.

"I came to talk to you. When I get here-just hurry."

They followed her upstairs. Johnston was lying on the floor as Gail and April performed CPR. They managed to revive him and the boys gently lifted him onto the bed. Gail remained with him while April and the others went downstairs.

"The antibiotics must have been too much for his system. He's become septic," April explained.

"How do we treat it?" Eric asked. April didn't respond. "April! How do we treat it?"

"If the med center were operational, maybe. If we could med-evac him to the hospital in Rogue River, maybe. If we had any heavy-duty meds left, maybe. Without that, 12 hours; maybe a day."

The news hung over the room like a dark cloud. Heather interrupted. "What kind of meds?"

"Cipro, probably, but the pharmacy ran out weeks ago."

"They'd have it in Rogue River, though, right?" Jake said, a plan forming.

"Jake, that's 90 miles away!"

"Then I'd better get going."

"I'm coming too," Eric said.

"Eric, wait! If Gray's right about how dangerous it is out there-"

Gail was at the foot of the stairs. "Go. Go now."

* * *

Heather was babbling in a panic. "I don't think this is such a good idea."

"No choice."

"Well then at least let me do some more work on the car."

"There's no time. I have to go now." Jake threw his bag in through the open window. "Wait, I thought you said it was sturdy?"

"Yeah, sturdy. But what if you have to outrun something?"

"Why? How fast will it go?"

"I don't know... 30, maybe 40 miles an hour. Best case, down hill, and not for very long. See, this is what I'm saying. Maybe you should go on horseback."

"A horse is slower than that."

"A horse is less likely to explode."

"I'll take my chances."

"Okay, well at least open her up easy. Make sure you have enough car left in case you have to ask for a lot in a hurry, and remember, the gas tank on this thing is on the left-hand side, so if somebody decides to start shooting at you, make sure it's not on that side."

"Anything else?" Jake asked, opening the door.

Heather took a few steps closer, threw her arms around Jake's neck, and kissed him. Time seemed to stop. Finally, she pulled away. "Come back in one piece," she said softly, gazing into his eyes.

"I will, I promise."

Beginning to realize what she'd just done, she took a step back. She cleared her throat. "I thought you were gonna go."

"I'm waiting on Eric."

"Oh. Well, watch out for giant irradiated ants out there." As soon as she said that, she made a face.

"Always do." Jake smiled as he watched her turn awkwardly and walk away.

* * *

Eric came out, unimpressed by Charlotte. "That's what we're driving?"

Jake paused, trying to convince himself as much as Eric. "It'll get us there. Really."

Just then, a large truck and Jake's, no Jonah's, car pulled to a stop in front of them. Emily stepped out. "I couldn't get you the meds you need, so I got you the next best thing-a fast car. He said it's a gift."

"How'd you hear?" Jake asked.

"I stopped by your place to drop something off. April told me what was going on."

"I'm sorry you got dragged into this."

"No one dragged me." She threw him the keys. "Now go save your dad."


	8. Rogue River

Jake and Eric spent the first half-hour of the ride in silence. Jake was mulling over his encounter with Heather. The woman who had been embarrassed to see him with his shirt off had just thrown herself at him. Jake had to admit, he'd thought about kissing her once or twice, but the last person he'd kissed was…Emily. A long time ago. A very long time ago. And now she was engaged. At first, Jake had been jealous, but in the month he'd been back in Jericho, Heather had been stealing into his heart, replacing the memories of his old girlfriend.

"Jake!" Eric shouted, startling him out of his thoughts.

"I see it."

"Slow down!"

"I'm not stopping until we get to Rogue River."

"We can't just leave her lying there in the middle of the road."

"See that second set of skid marks back there? Someone probably forced her off the road, and robbed her and killed her. For all we know they could be out here waiting to do it again. I don't like it any more than you do, but if we don't make it, Dad dies. It's just the world we live in now."

Eric sat in silence, frowning. He pulled out a map and studied it for a few minutes. "Okay, we've got a route to the county hospital in Rogue River. Take Cedar Run Road-"

Jake cut him off. "No good."

"You don't even know what I was going to say."

"Put the map away. We're taking the back roads." He cut off Eric's protest. "I spent most of my teenager years driving these roads. We'll make up the time."

* * *

Heather knocked on the Greens' door. Emily answered. "Oh…hey," Heather said in surprise. She hadn't been expecting Emily to be there. "I brought some food."

"Yeah, come on in. Gail's upstairs."

"I used to have this phobia of dairy products that didn't need to be refrigerated. Now I thank God for processed cheese food." She held up a box of Velveeta. "And I brought soup-" Heather was babbling again, a sure sign of discomfort.

"Creamy mushroom," Emily supplied. "The only stuff I have left is what I had for the food drive."

"I guess we're not the only ones," Heather remarked, looking at the stockpile of goods on the table. "How is he?"

"He's getting worse."

Gail hurried in, then a look of disappointment crossed her face. "Oh, hi. I heard the door. I thought it was the boys."

"Heather brought some food."

"Oh, thank you sweetheart."

"Is there anything else I can do?"

Gail sighed. "No. It's ridiculous-in this day and age, how can someone die of a fever? It's the 21st century. I can't get the right drugs. Can't even find ice to cool him off."

Heather's eye opened wide. "I can make ice!" Gail and Emily looked at her. "One of the students had a project in the science fair last year. I just need water and…do you have fertilizer?" she asked.

"Maybe in the garage."

"Okay. I can do this. I think…" Heather took a steadying breath and then took charge of the situation. "Grab every large bowl you have," she told Gail. She turned to Emily. "And can you grab some buckets and get some fresh water from the well? It'll be cooler. I'll get the fertilizer."

* * *

Jake and Eric finally reached Rogue River, but something was wrong. Jake stopped the car. They both got out and surveyed the area. The town was deserted; there was nothing left but litter.

"Where is everybody?" Eric whispered.

Jake climbed back into the car. Eric followed suit. Soon they were driving through a residential area. "See those markings?" Jake asked. "The top number is a date. These homes were evacuated 10/25 by FEMA."

"Well, if FEMA came through here, at least there's still some sort of government."

"As of a week ago."

"What are the other numbers?"

"Well, that zero on the right is the number they found alive."

"And the two on the bottom?"

"The number of dead." They rode the rest of the way to the hospital without speaking. When they arrived, they found it apparently deserted, like the rest of the town. Eric picked up a flyer from the damp ground.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has determined that radioactive fallout from the blast in Lawrence, Kansas, has contaminated the water table of this region. Under no circumstances should water from any taps or wells be consumed. FEMA

"Well I guess that explains why this place is empty." They'd taken just a few more steps when gunfire erupted. "What the hell? Where's that coming from?" He looked at Jake. "We gotta get inside!"

They crept into the hospital, shotguns at the ready. They stumbled over the bodies that littered the floor.

"Where do you think those shots came from?" Eric asked.

"Top floor."

"Who the hell would be shooting at us?"

"I don't' know. But if they have any Cipro, it's probably upstairs."

"Oh, my God. Did whoever's upstairs do this?" he said, gesturing at all the bodies.

"Maybe." Jake grabbed a shell casing. "556. From an automatic weapon."

"Maybe they belonged to these guys? I didn't know Rogue River had a SWAT team."

"They don't. These guys aren't cops. They're government contractors. A private army." He pulled a card from a dead man's pocket. "A firm called Ravenwood."

"What are mercenaries doing in Kansas?"

"Same thing they've been doing in Iraq and New Orleans. The military's been stretched so thin the past few years, mercenaries became a commodity. The real question is did they kill these people?"

* * *

"The ammonium nitrate in fertilizer extracts the heat from water," Heather explained.

"How long is it supposed to take?"

"I don't know... I think a while."

"I'm gonna go up and check on him," Gail said, the worried look back on her face.

Heather looked heavenward. "God, I hope I'm not screwing this up."

Emily tried to look comforting but only managed sad. "Did you know they've been married for 40 years?"

"Can you imagine?" Heather said, shaking her head.

"I was supposed to be married tomorrow," Emily whispered.

"Hey, hey," Heather said, resting her hand on Emily's shoulder. "Roger's coming back."

"So is Jake." They exchanged tight smiles.

* * *

Jake and Eric reached the stairs. They stopped to catch their breaths and prepare to face whoever was up there. Just as they were about to head up, something clattered at their feet. An explosion followed.

"Eric? You okay?"

"You say something? All I hear is ringing."

"It'll pass in a minute."

A man shouted down at them. "You down there! Freeze! Drop your weapons!"

"No! We're here for medicine. It's an emergency. We don't want trouble," Jake called back.

"There's no medicine here!"

"We wanna look for ourselves. We can trade you for food."

"We have everything we nee. Go away!"

Jake approached the stairs again.

"Jake!"

"What?"

"He's crazy."

"He's not crazy, didn't you hear him? He's scared."

"He threw a grenade!"

"That was a flash bang, not a grenade. It's just loud and bright to scare us. If he wanted to kill us, he would've." Jake leaned his gun against the wall and proceeded slowly upwards. "We're putting our weapons down and coming up." Eric reluctantly followed.

"That's far enough!" the man said as they reached the top. A laser sight marked Jake's heart.

"You're with Ravenwood," Jake said.

"How do you know?"

"I spent a year and a half in the green zone, running a supply rig up and down Route Irish to BIAP."

"You were in Iraq? Soldier?" the man asked as he performed a half-hearted patdown. Eric looked at Jake in surprise.

"No, I just drove a truck for another contractor. But I met a lot of Ravenwood guys. Where were you?"

"Fallujah."

"Man, I thought I had it bad."

"That was the worst thing I ever lived through. Till now."

"You mind putting that thing down? I'm just here for medicine, we don't have a lot of time. This is my brother Eric, I'm Jake."

"Randy Payton," he replied, lowering his gun. "I'll take you to see the doc."

"What are you doing in Kansas?" Jake asked as they followed the limping Randy.

"Not enough National Guard. Homeland Security hired us. Brought us in to protect the governor in Nebraska."

"Wait, the governor's alive?"

"Don't know. When we landed, they brought us over here to help FEMA evacuate Rogue River."

"Where to?"

"FEMA sent up a tent city in a Wal-mart parking lot just a few miles north of here."

"What happened to these people?" Eric asked.

Randy sighed. "These are the ones that couldn't be moved. Too old. Too sick."

"So you just killed them?" Eric said, outraged.

"No, I tried to move them. But the doctors wouldn't allow it. The guys, they just wanted to come in, they wanted to take the medicine, they wanted to leave. But the doctors started arguing with them, then one of our guys, he.. he just snapped and he started firing. Before I knew it, they had all emptied their weapons."

"Why didn't you stop them?" Eric demanded.

"How do you think I got shot? They left me for dead like everybody else." He gestured to a man in a dimly lit room. "This is the doc. Doc, this is Jake and Eric. They need medicine."

"Dr. Kenchy Dhuwalia."

"We need Cipro," Jake said.

"Right," Kenchy said, glancing up at Jake. "Morphine's worth a lot more, you know."

Jake grabbed his chin and forced it upward. "I'm not selling it, alright? It's for my father." Kenchy nodded and pointed to a tray. Eric grabbed the box. Brakes squealed outside. Jake moved over to the window. "It's Ravenwood. Looks like there are 6 or 8 of them."

"They brought a truck, they're going to clean out the hospital. Medicine, supplies, anything that's not nailed down. And they're going to kill anybody they find alive." Randy started to panic. "We know what they did. We can't let them get inside." He pointed a gun out the window and fired.

"Hey! Hey!" Jake hissed, trying to pull him down.

"You wanna live? Stand up and fight," Randy said.

"Look, Jake, we've got the medication. Let's get out of here."

"They're gonna come straight for us. We gotta hide," Jake argued. They made their way downstairs to where they'd left their shotguns. They huddled in a darkened corner. "We let them pass, and then we slip by." They hunkered down until the footsteps had passed. "Come on, let's go."

"It'd be safer if we wait until they leave the building," Eric whispered.

"That'd take hours. Dad doesn't have hours."

"What's wrong with him?" Kenchy asked.

"He's gone into septic shock."

"Then we have to go back," Kenchy said. "If your father is in septic shock, that means that his organs are shutting down. That means that by the time you get to him, his body won't even be able to process the Cipro. You need an intravenous drug. It's called Levaquin. It's back in the ICU."

Jake cocked his gun.

"What, are we going to shoot our way through?" Eric said.

"Yeah, if I have to. Are you with me or not?"

"Okay, but we need a plan."

* * *

Heather was frustrated. "This is definitely taking too long. The water should be freezing by now."

"Ok," Emily sighed. "What might we have done wrong?"

"I don't know!" Heather started pacing back and forth. "The mayor's running out of time. Everyone is counting on me, and it's not working." Heather started fussing with bowls that floated in the buckets of water.

"We have to give it time to work. Okay? You're freaking out." Emily reached to grab her hand away from the last bowl. "This one's cold," she said excitedly.

"It's working!"

"Ok, what did you do differently with this one?"

Heather stared at it for a moment. "The.. the bowl! It's aluminum. Plastic's an insulator, God, I'm so stupid!" she said, getting a little hysterical.

"So we just need more of these, right?"

"Yeah, anything metal."

"Alright, I'll get them from the kitchen."

"Okay." Heather took a deep breath. "We got ice!" she called to Gail.

* * *

Eric's plan was to disguise himself as a doctor. He went out and spoke to the Ravenwood commander while Jake and Randy got into position. Eric got four or five guys to break off in a wild goose chase while he had the commander help him 'treat' a wounded member of the party. "Alright, we need something to cut his shirt," Eric said. The commander pulled out a knife. "Something, something sterile," he said, a bit rattled.

Eric shuffled over to a cart stacked with medications. "Hey, what are you doing?" the man demanded.

"I-I'm just getting something for the pain." Eric aimlessly shuffled bottles and boxes into a container.

"He can handle the pain, just get to work."

Eric found the box of Levaquin and added it to his collection. "Go!" he yelled. Jake and Randy appeared from behind a counter and laid down cover fire as Eric pushed past the commander.

As they neared the exit, Eric ran ahead to the car with Kenchy. Randy fell behind.

"Hey, let's go!" Jake said, pulling his arm. "The car's out front."

"No, no, this is on me."

"Hey, they'll kill you. Come on."

Randy shook his head. "I don't care. I deserve this. I emptied my gun up there, too. Now go. Let me do this." His eyes filled with tears of remorse and guilt. He took up a defensive position as Jake ran out the door.

"Go! Go!" Jake cried as he leaped into the car.

"Where's Payton?" Eric asked.

"He's not coming." As Eric sped away, the hospital was filled with bursts of flashing light and the steady tapping of machine gun fire.

* * *

The moment Eric stopped the car, Jake and Kenchy leapt out. They raced inside, only stopping for a moment as they saw Heather in the hall. "Is he-" Jake asked.

Heather nodded. "Barely."

Jake barreled into the room, making room for Kenchy. Eric was inside moments later.

Gail was suspicious of the stranger in her house. "What's going on?"

"This is Dr. Kenchy."

"I'm April Green. Did you get the Cipro?"

"This is Levaquin, it will go directly into his system." A look of relief spread across April's face.

"Will it work?" Gail asked.

"If his body is strong enough," Kenchy said as he filled the syringe. He handed it to April, who injected it into the IV. "Either way, we will know by morning."

Kenchy, April, and Gail remained in Johnston's room. Jake, Emily, and Heather went downstairs. Jake practically collapsed as he took a seat on a stair. "Thanks for staying with my mom," Jake said.

"Glad to help," Heather said.

"She's being humble. She saved your father's life." Emily smiled at Heather. "I should go, let you guys get some sleep. Good night."

Once Emily had gone, Heather joined Jake on the stairs. Jake reached for Heather's hand. They sat in silence until Eric wandered down.

"How you feeling?" Jake asked him.

"Honestly?" He plopped down a few stairs below them. "I couldn't tell you."

"You did okay, alright? You'll get through this." Jake laid a reassuring hand on Eric's shoulder. "You're a much better person than I am, so I know you'll be fine."

"I don't know if I'm a better person." He frowned, lost in thought.

Jake broke the silence. "Go upstairs. Get some rest."

Eric stood slowly. He walked halfway up the stairs, then turned. "Where's my jacket?"

"I don't know. Did you leave it in the car?"

Eric frowned. "Jake, I left my jacket back there. My wallet is in the jacket. The address... what if those guys come here?"

Jake shook his head. "No, those guys are dead, Payton took care of it. Don't worry."

* * *

Back at the hospital, the Ravenwood commander was handed a wallet. He idly flipped through it, throwing things out as he examined them. He stopped at the driver's license; Eric's face smiled up at him. "Jericho!" the man said. He followed the last of his men out to the truck.

* * *

Once Eric was out of sight, Jake walked over to the door where they'd left the shotguns leaning against the wall. He picked one up and gripped it as he perched on the back of the sofa.

"They're coming, aren't they?" Heather whispered. She followed him to the sofa and sat next to him. He wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders and held her close.

A/N: That episode was practically all dialogue. *sighs in exhaustion*


	9. Crossroads

The morning sunlight streaming in caused Heather to groan. She must have fallen asleep on the sofa. She cracked an eye open. This wasn't her sofa. And what was her head laying on? It wasn't a pillow, and it smelled like…Jake. Jake! The last thing she remembered was sitting on the sofa with his arm around her. She opened both her eyes and found her head was on Jake's lap and he was looking down at her. "Morning," he whispered, with a smile on his face.

Eric stumbled down the stairs. "Jake?" he called. "Heather?" he said in surprise. He noticed the gun in Jake's hand. "Did you stay up all night?"

Jake rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Apparently not." He stood up and stretched. "Thought I'd keep an eye out. How's dad?"

"I don't know. April's not awake yet."

There was a knock at the door. Eric peeked out, then quickly opened it. Stanley, Bonnie, and Mimi were there. "Sorry to wake you so early, but some guys showed up at the farm last night," Stanley said. "A couple of Humvees, guns. They knew Eric's name-"

"Ravenwood." Eric said.

"We gotta go," Jake said, turning to Heather. She nodded. As the men left, she looked over at Mimi and Bonnie. "So, breakfast?"

* * *

Jake, Eric, and Stanley headed over to the sheriff's office to explain the situation to Gray and the deputies. The decision was made to barricade the bridge into town. Stanley objected because his and several other farms were on the other side.

"Everyone will have to come over here. Just for right now. It's not safe out there. Bill, start collecting ammo, anything anyone will part with. Jimmy, there's a couple dead trucks out on the Miller farm, we can use those for barricades," Jake said, giving instructions.

* * *

After breakfast, Mimi and Bonnie decided to head back to the farm. Heather was just leaving as Gail and April came downstairs. She said a quick goodbye and returned to her house to freshen up a little bit before going to Emily's. She had to do something for her. It was supposed to be her wedding day, after all.

* * *

Out on the bridge, Hawkins was watching Jake as he worked. "This isn't your first run-in with Ravenwood, is it?"

"Why?"

"You go off on your trip and all of a sudden they're heading for Jericho. Would've thought you'd be more careful is all."

"You think I led them here on purpose?"

"I'm just trying to put the pieces together, Jake."

"My family lives in Jericho. Everything I do, I do to protect them."

"Same here."

"Then let's stop screwing around and get it done."

* * *

Two Humvees approached and stopped. About twenty men and a few cars blocked the road. The Ravenwood commander stepped out and ordered them to clear the road. When no one moved, he repeated himself. One of the Jericho men panicked and fired. Ravenwood fired back.

"Cease fire! We're here under government orders to collect supplies. Your cooperation is mandatory." The commander signaled his men to get back in their vehicles. "When I get back here, this bridge had better be clear, or I'll clear it myself, understand? You have four hours."

"What are we gonna do?" Gray asked. "We can't hold this bridge."

"We have to take it out," Jake replied.

"I agree," Hawkins said.

"What are you saying?" Gray demanded.

"There can't be a bridge."

* * *

Jake and Gray went back into town to talk to Eric. They wanted to blow up the bridge, but Eric adamantly refused. Eventually, the argument spread, including more and more people. Finally, Gray had had enough. "We've decided, Eric, we're blowing the bridge."

* * *

Heather and Emily drove to Gracie's Market. Heather ran inside for a few minutes. When she returned, she said, "Well, we're not hiking today. Everyone's supposed to stay indoors. So, I guess we'll proceed with plan B!"

She drove over to Bailey's and the two sat down at the counter. Mary set a bottle in front of them. "This may be the last bottle of single malt scotch Kansas sees in a long time."

"Just say the word, we open it," Heather added.

"So, plan B is that we get completely obliterated?" Heather and Mary nodded. Kenchy was sitting at the end of the bar and raised his glass to them. "What the hell?" said Emily, unscrewing the lid.

* * *

Eric had gone back home, and finding his father was better, explained to him what was going on, that Gray and the others were planning on blowing up the bridge.

"Then you stop them. Whatever it takes, you stop them," Johnston said.

* * *

Eric drove out to the bridge. "Dad wants this stopped," he told Jake.

"Dad doesn't have all the information," Jake replied.

"It's still his call." Eric drove away, ignoring Jake calling after him.

As his car disappeared into the distance, a flare went up, signaling Ravenwood's return. Stalling for time so Eric could get back from wherever he'd gone, Jake had Gray clear the bridge. He finished attaching the wires himself, then grabbed the detonator. He held it in one hand as he stood facing off with the commander. Jake wound up with a laser sight trained on his chest. "Go ahead, shoot. I go, you go."

From the Ravenwood trucks, the cry of 'man down' was heard. The Ravenwood sniper who had been aiming at Jake was dead. "Goetz, we got cars coming!" another man shouted.

Three cars pulled in. Jonah and his men got out and aimed their weapons. Ravenwood was surrounded.

Goetz smiled. "Pretty soon, things are gonna get back to normal. The government will pull itself back together and will be looking to help you get back on your feet. And do you know who they're gonna send? Me." At his signal, his men packed up and retreated.

Jonah slung his gun over his shoulder and approached Jake, Gray, and Hawkins. "Next time you plan on destroying my route into town, I'd appreciate a heads-up. You're welcome," he said deliberately. "Don't mention it." Jake looked at him appreciatively while Gray just glared. "Can I make a suggestion? Start figuring out how to fight for yourselves. If Eric hadn't come to get me, you'd all be burying Jake in a shoebox tomorrow."

* * *

Jake entered the Mayor's office. "Gray used you, son. I hope you see that."

"Dad, you didn't see what those guys are capable of." Jake stopped and took a breath. "I'm not here to fight."

"What are you here for?"

"We need a security force. A real one. Trained. Sanctioned by you."

Johnston walked over to a bookcase and pulled out an Army Rangers manual. "This belonged to your grandfather." He handed it to Jake. "Make sure you do it right."

* * *

Jake literally bumped into Heather as he headed home-she was walking a bit unsteadily. He smiled. "Did you have a good day?"

"Mm-hmm," she replied. "We spent the day at Bailey's."

"I can see that," he said, grabbing an arm to catch her fall. "Who's we?"

"Me and Emily and Mary. Emily was supposed to get married today."

"Oh," Jake said. "So you were…doing what, exactly?"

"Distracting her. Or trying to. I don't think it worked. Sure didn't for me. I spent all day wondering if you were out there dying." Her words were accompanied by a few flailing gestures. She stopped and stared up at Jake. "I was so worried," she whispered, tears beginning to slide down her face.

"Hey, hey, it's ok. I'm fine." He pulled her in for a hug. Then he lowered his face to hers and kissed her.

"Yes, you are," she replied.

"We really should get you home," Jake told her.

Heather, despite her recent worry about Jake, was in a rather silly mood. As Jake escorted her back to her house, occasionally having to steady her, Heather said, "This is your captain speaking. We are experiencing minor turbulence." She giggled and Jake joined in. He was grateful for a chance to laugh.


	10. Red Flag

Jake and Stanley were walking together on their patrol duty. Jake heaved a sigh. Training wasn't going so well. It was Kansas, so most of the men knew how to handle a gun, but there were a few who didn't. It was also difficult getting them to follow orders. Jake's patrol had tried to shoot a few turkeys, seeing as it was almost Thanksgiving, but they had no luck. As Jake and Stanley reached Stanley's truck, parachutes began falling from the sky. They drove off to see what was being dropped.

The parachutes were attached to pallets of supplies from China. Everyone was gathering on Main Street, bringing the pallets in. Johnston walked out of his office and met Jake and Stanley. "Jake! Did you get a good look at those planes?"

"The jets were MIG 19s, the bombers looked like Antonovs."

"You know your planes," said Hawkins.

"My grandfather made sure of that."

"Since when do we let foreign planes fly through our airspace?" Eric asked.

Hawkins replied, "It happened only once, Italy patrolled the border after 9/11."

"And Italy is an ally. But Russia, China, I imagine the last contact we had with them were those two missiles we saw a few weeks back," Johnston said.

"We can't give out this food," Jake said.

"What? Why?" Eric demanded.

"How do we know it's safe? What if this is the second wave of the attacks, wait 'til we get hungry and poison our food supply?" Jake responded.

"Who would do that?" Gail said.

"A smart enemy," replied Johnston.

Despite the concern, the town was practically rioting over the supplies. Gray leapt up and grabbed something out of a box. He unwrapped it and took a bite.

"All that proved is that you're clinically stupid," Johnston told him. "Maybe, if you're still breathing this time tomorrow, we'll distribute the food."

* * *

As Johnston had the food moved into Gracie's store, Gray stood among the crowd, stirring up contention, as usual.

Mimi appeared with a message from Stanley-one of the parachutes had dropped a generator. By the time Jake and Mimi made it back to Stanley's, Jonah's men had made off with the generator.

Johnston and the deputies headed off to confront Jonah about it. Emily had seen them leave and decided to take matters into her own hands. She snuck into the compound and stole the truck that the generator was loaded on, driving right over the gates.

Once back in town, Jake went on a mission to find her. "What the hell where you thinking?" he shouted when he found her playing pool at Bailey's.

"That you could've gotten killed and Jonah wouldn't have hurt me."

"What about Mitchell-he almost shot you. We almost shot you."

"Jake, when we were in high school you would've been right there with me."

"We're not kids anymore!"

"Come on, Jake. You think you're the only one who can play hero?"

Jake shook his head and sighed in exasperation.

He left Bailey's looking a little stormy. Heather ran up to him. "Hi!" she said cheerily.

"Oh, hey," he said, trying to shake off his bad mood.

"What's wrong?" she asked, taking his arm.

"Emily did something incredibly stupid, that's all."

Heather gave a half-smile. "And you never do?"

"That's different," he began. Seeing the look on her face, he gave up and changed the subject. "So, do you have any plans for Thanksgiving?"

She shook her head. "The past few years I've been playing musical chairs, spending the holidays with the other teachers and their families. But since there's no school, I haven't spent much time with anyone."

"Come over to our place," Jake said. "I can't promise it'll be fun, but you're welcome."

Heather's smile lit up her face. "Sounds great. I'd love to."

* * *

Jake and Eric were at Bailey's finishing up unloading the supplies.

"Do think we should keep these parachutes? They're trashed," Eric said.

"Why not? You could make some of those pants you used to wear in high school." Jake was folding one up when he found something sewn into the edge.

"What is that?" Eric asked.

"I don't know, but I know who to ask." He rounded up his father and Hawkins.

"It's an RFID, radio frequency identifier. They're used for tracking inventory, mostly by big global companies, and one military," Robert Hawkins explained.

"China?" said Eric.

"No, ours."

"Let me get this straight," Johnston interjected. "We're talking Vietnam era planes flying through Kansas airspace doing a Chinese drop using U.S. Air Force equipment to do it?"

"Sounds about right," Hawkins said, nodding.

* * *

Jake was helping his mother set the table for dinner. Eric had decided to spend Thanksgiving alone with Mary Bailey. Jake was slightly relieved. The tension between Eric and April lately had been incredibly uncomfortable.

There was a knock at the door. Gail answered. "Heather! Come in, sweetheart."

"Sorry I'm late," Heather said. "I was trying to find something to bring."

"Don't worry about it," Jake said. "I'm glad you could make it."

Gail handed Jake the napkins. "Here, put Heather next to you…"


	11. Vox Populi

Jake and Heather were kneeling on a patch of grass in front of town hall. A plaque read, "Site of Jericho's First Well. 'From This Place Springs Life.' Established June 10th, 1876."

Emily walked by and joined them for a moment. "Hey. What are you doing?"

Jake answered, "We're putting a hand pump on this well so we don't have to waste generator power for water."

"There's really a well under there?" Emily said, eyebrow raised.

"First well in Jericho, according to the sign," Jake replied.

"I remember another first, happened right over there," Emily said, pointing.

Jake smiled as he continued to unscrew the well cover. "You shouldn't have dared me."

"Nobody had to dare you."

"Well, I remember one of your finer moments; right over there behind Bailey's…some people just can't hold their apple wine coolers."

Emily frowned and turned slightly green. "On that note, I think I'm gonna head home. Good luck with the well." She stood and left.

"What exactly did you two do as kids?" Heather asked.

"The better question is what _didn't_ we do."

After they had finished installing the pump, Jake stood, brushing his hands on his jeans. Heather glanced over at Gracie's. "What's going on over there?"

"Let's go find out."

* * *

Gracie Leigh had been murdered. Jake and Heather joined Johnston, Gail, and Eric in the station. Mitchell Cafferty had said that Jonah had killed Gracie because she wouldn't do business with him anymore.

"Well, Mitch isn't much of a witness," Jake said.

"I saw Gracie stand up to him," Johnston said.

"We'll need to take a couple guys off patrol and find him," Jake said.

"Before Gray does," added Eric.

* * *

Jake hadn't wanted Heather to come with him, but he had discovered she could be incredibly stubborn. "You never knew when you're gonna need someone to play cute and innocent," she said. He'd sighed, resigned.

Jake was heading to Jonah's compound. "Did you think about trying Emily's?" Heather asked. "If he's desperate, there's really nowhere else for him to go."

"You're right. Can you give me directions?"

"Yeah."

They arrived at Emily's moments before Gray and his posse. "What are you doing Gray?" Jake demanded as several men headed around to the back.

"Man hunt, same as you." Gray approaching, coming face-to-face with Emily.

Heather stepped up, separating the two with her body. "We're here because Emily probably needs some support right now. What makes you think she'd agree to hide Jonah?"

Bill came around the corner. "Backyard's clear, Gray."

Between Jake's glare and Bill's questioning glance, Gray backed off. "Watch this house," he murmured to Bill.

"Thanks," Emily said with a sigh.

"Where is he?" Jake said, pressing his way inside. He was greeted with a gun pointed in his face. He slowly stepped forward, allowing Heather and Emily to enter also.

"I didn't kill Gracie Leigh," Jonah insisted.

"Then why are you holding us at gunpoint?" Jake asked.

"Because maybe you won't believe me. Maybe you'll try to play the hero, take me in."

"He's bleeding, he needs a doctor," Emily said.

"I'm not going in to town. Those guys will kill me. Jake, you gotta help me get of here. Mitch's looking for me, too."

"Mitch did this?"

"Yeah, turned my guys against me. It didn't sit too well with them that my little girl stole our haul from the food drops."

Heather had been quiet. "I have an idea," she said.

* * *

Heather walked into Bailey's, where she knew Dr. Kenchy would be. He'd practically lived there ever since he'd arrived in Jericho.

"You need to come with me," she said. "It's Emily. Between what happened to Gracie and the hunt for her father and everything, she fainted. She hit her head pretty hard. We didn't think we should move her."

Kenchy stood, reluctantly. "Alright. We'll have to stop by the clinic for supplies."

* * *

Heather brought Kenchy back to Emily's house. He wasn't entirely surprised to find that Jonah was the one needing attention.

"So, this is the murderer everyone's been talking about," Kenchy remarked.

"He says no," Jake replied.

"No one's going to believe him. They're out for blood."

"He's not going to get a fair shake," Emily said.

"Yes, he will," Jake replied. "I can go get my dad, have him bring him in, make sure it gets done right. It's Jonah's only chance."

Emily nodded. Jake left to get Johnston, leaving Emily with his gun. She glanced once into the living to make sure Jonah was still there, then focused on watching the outside. Heather showed Kenchy upstairs so that he could wash up.

Jonah, who'd been awake and listening, stole from the couch and out the back door.

* * *

"Well, we have got one hell of a problem, Jake," Johnston scolded. "If anyone finds out you've been harboring Jonah Prowse while the whole town's been out looking for him, they'll throw us all in jail."

"Jonah says Mitchell killed Gracie and then set him up."

"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Eric asked.

"Maybe."

"That doesn't matter," Johnston insisted. "Now, we're going to get him and bring him back here-"

"That's what I came for!" Jake exclaimed, frustrated.

Heather and Emily entered the Mayor's office. "He's gone," Emily said.

* * *

Jonah had tried to make a run for it, but had been caught almost immediately. He was locked up.

* * *

The next afternoon, Jake and Johnston were outside town hall, staring glumly at election posters. Dale Turner ran up to them and told them that Mitchell Cafferty had just threatened to do to him what he'd done to Gracie if Dale didn't cooperate. The three dashed inside to tell the newly elected mayor, Gray Anderson. They found Gray and Bill about to 'move' Jonah.

Jake wasn't buying it. "You gonna kill him in cold blood, say he tried to escape while moving him to a secure location? Who's gonna do it, huh? Bill? You gonna put a bullet in Jonah's head when Gray tells you to?"

"I'm not shooting anybody," Bill said, shaking his head nervously.

Jake pulled the gun from his waist. "It's up to you, Gray. This is what you want, right? To decide who lives and dies?" Jake pulled Jonah to his knees and pointed the gun at his head. "Go ahead and do it. But you do it here, in front of me and Dale, in front of everyone, not in some back room with your buddies." Jake held the gun out to Gray. "Don't let someone do the dirty work for you, mayor. Take this gun and blow his brains out."

Gray grabbed the gun, aimed, cocked it.

Jake continued, "But you better be damn sure he's guilty, because if he's not, you're a murderer."

Gray paused, still aiming at Jonah's head. Finally, with a sigh, he put the gun down.

* * *

Jake was sitting at a secluded table in a corner of Bailey's. It was hard to be secluded tonight, though. Mary had been saving her generator for a music night and a big crowd had gathered.

Heather walked in. She'd already tried the house; since Jake wasn't there, she figured he was at Bailey's. She had to look pretty hard to penetrate the crowd, but eventually she spotted Jake.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Please," Jake said. Heather moved to sit across from him, but Jake slid over and patted the seat next to him. She sat down with a smile.

"Rough day?" she asked, studying his face. He looked tired; more than tired, emotionally drained.

"Yeah," he said and downed the last of his drink. A new song began playing on the jukebox. Jake gave a dry chuckle. "Emily loved this song."

"Really? I always thought it was sad and depressing."

"Me, too," Jake admitted. He looked down into Heather's face for a few moments. "I think I'm gonna go change it." Heather obligingly slid out of the booth. Jake dropped in a quarter-the world had ended, yet here they were, still dropping quarters in the slot-and punched a few buttons. He came back to the table and extended his hand to Heather. "Shall we?"

She smiled and followed him onto the floor. He took her hand and wrapped his other arm around her waist. She put her free arm up around his neck.

_What moonsongs do you sing your babies?_  
_What sunshine do you bring?_

_Who belongs, who decides who's crazy?_  
_Who rights wrongs where others cling?_

_I'll sing for you if you want me to_  
_I'll give to you_  
_And it's a chance I'll have to take_

"I always liked this one better," Jake whispered in Heather's ear as they gently swayed together.

Emily wandered in. She didn't want to be alone for the rest of the night. She'd just sent Jonah away, probably forever. She studied the crowd and spotted Jake and Heather on the dance floor. She smiled slightly. She'd just sat down when Eric burst in calling for Jake.

A large group of refugees filled Main Street.

"We have to help them. Some of them were on plane that landed in the middle of nowhere. They've been walking for weeks," Eric explained.

Jake, hand in hand with Heather, looked at the crowd of dirty faces, some wrapped in tattered blankets, some wearing only rags. "They must have gone through hell."

Emily had also hurried outside. She eagerly scanned the faces of the new arrivals. There was a man she couldn't quite get a clear view of. Once she did, she gasped. "Oh, my God! Roger!" She ran up the bearded man and gazed into his eyes. "Is it really you?" A few tears slipped out. "I thought you were dead," she whispered.

Roger didn't reply, he simply pulled her into a fierce hug. "Come on, come with me," Emily said as she pulled away.

Everyone was crammed into Bailey's. Emily sat administering basic first aid to Roger, cleaning his cuts. Heather, in teacher mode, was taking roll, getting names, finding out if people knew anyone in Jericho. Eric had gone to get April to treat those who were sick and injured. Jake was distributing hot drinks. It was going to be a long night.

**A/N: The song quoted is ****_Luna_**** by Smashing Pumpkins. After Emily says, "Oh, my God. Roger!" the events are taken from ****The Day Before.**** I'm not changing history, so that episode remains untouched. If you want the delicious bits of mostly Jake's backstory, you have to watch it yourself. On Netflix, preferably, to support the show, seeing as it may be picked up and continued by Netflix.**


	12. Black Jack

The recent cold snap had been bad for Jericho. Every day they were finding someone new who had frozen to death, usually an older person who lived alone. The town was running low on fuel for the generators. Gray held a town meeting to address that fact. Heather asked about windmills. Harry Carmichael, chief engineer of the salt mine, explained that it would take time; Gray thought too much time. There was also the matter of not having all the necessary parts on hand, specifically mechanical governors.

"Black Jack fairgrounds," Roger piped up. "It's become a trading post. People all over the region are trading food, information, machine parts. They may have what we need."

"That's 200 miles; a lot of gas for a maybe," Gray said.

"If we can get one windmill working," Heather interjected, " we could save that much gas in a month. If we get enough of them, we could be off gas for good."

Gray reluctantly agreed that a small party could go. He asked for volunteers. No one offered but everyone in the room turned and looked at Jake. Internally, he cursed. Why did everyone always expect him to do everything?

Back in Gray's office, Roger briefed Jake on what to expect on the way. Gray wanted a couple extra armed men to accompany Jake, 'in case of surprises.' Heather entered. "I'm coming, too."

"Not a chance in hell," Jake immediately replied.

"Would you know a working mechanical governor for a wind turbine if you saw one?"

Jake shifted his weight and glanced around the room. "Yes," he said, unconvincingly.

Heather inclined her head.

"I'm not taking passengers out there. No. No. No."

"Jake, Mr. Carmichael has a family." Heather locked eyes with Jake. "I can help. You need me."

Jake lowered his gaze in defeat.

"Besides, you think only Jericho boys know how to handle a gun?"

Jake cracked a smile.

* * *

In the foyer, Johnston stopped Jake. "Who else is going with you?"

"Apparently, Heather. Gray's having us load up a couple of bags of salt to trade. He wants a couple border patrol guys to go, but I'm not sure pulling them off just to watch my back is a good idea. Besides, only a handful of them know what they're doing."

"You don't think I can watch your back?"

"What, you wanna go?"

"You've already seen what it's like out there. I just need to see for myself. Besides, I'm unemployed."

"Did you ask mom?"

Johnston gave his son a look. "Son, I'm 59 years old. I was mayor of this town since the Carter administration. I'm a retired U.S. Army Ranger and a combat veteran." He paused. "Of course I asked your mother."

* * *

Jake and Johnston were loading salt into the trunk of Jake's car. Heather came up and pulled Jake aside. "Look, I know you're not entirely happy about this. You have this ridiculously protective streak running through you and you don't want me to go out risking my life doing something crazy, something like you'd do." She playfully poked him in the chest. "But I promise, I'll stick to you like glue."

Jake rolled his eyes but couldn't help grinning at her.

Dale saw them packing up and walked over. He wanted to come too so he could try to re-supply Gracie's.

Jake finally agreed, albeit reluctantly. "We leave first thing in the morning."

* * *

The drive had been uneventful. They reached the fairgrounds and Jake came to a halt. "Thieves will be strung up," Heather read on a posted sign. A guard knocked on the window and asked for their guns.

They drove through the gates and Jake parked. As they surveyed the crowd, Heather said, "They're kidding about the strung up part, right? They don't mean that literally."

Jake gazed at something behind her. Dale turned, then Johnston, then Heather. A man with a sack over his head was hanging from a light pole.

Johnston and Dale went one way while Jake and Heather went another. They had a list of places to check out that might have the parts they needed. At the first vendor, Heather was examining some equipment when a man approached her. "Hey, how much?"

"Excuse me?"

"How much?"

"How much for what?" she asked cheerily.

"I don't know…an hour?"

"An hour of what?" she said, genuinely confused. Until the man leered at her. "Wait, what? No!" she said, loud enough to cause Jake to turn around.

"Everything alright?" he said.

"I'm not a hooker, pal," Heather spat at the man.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"That's enough," Jake said. The two began shoving each other around a little. A couple guards with batons approached. "Is there a problem here?"

"No, no problem," a man said, pushing his way in through the crowd. "You really don't want to mess with the guards. They get ugly fast," he said to Jake in a low voice.

The three turned and walked away. "Heather!" another man called.

"Ted!" she cried, running and giving him a big hug. "I can't believe you're here! Uh, Jake, this is Ted Lewis. We grew up together over in New Bern." She was smiling an incredibly big smile. Jake narrowed his eyes ever so slightly.

Ted introduced two other men, Russell and Mike. Russell was the one who had helped them with the guards. Once Jake had explained what they were doing at Black Jack, Russell mentioned that they knew a guy who often had 'special items.' They decided to go check it out.

On the way, they exchanged information about what had been going on in both towns. New Bern had received an air drop from Germany. Ravenwood had also been through, taking a truckload of diesel, leaving several shopkeepers dead and the town heavily damaged. Their sheriff, Phil Constantino, had been given mayoralty.

The group stopped at a giant news board. Heather pulled out a notebook and began copying. Russell took Jake to the other side of the structure. There were maps, showing six capitals, meaning there were six men claiming to be president.

They finally reached the vendor. They made a deal and waited for him to return with the part. Dale, exploring, pulled back a curtain to reveal bloody cots and shackles. The vendor came back out with the part. Heather picked up it and studied it for a moment.

"What the hell is this?" Jake demanded, gesturing toward the cots.

"Are you conducting an inspection or making a deal?"

"Uh-uh, we're not supporting that," Johnston said.

"Then we're all done here," the vendor said, grabbing the part out of Heather's hands. "Get out of here!"

Outside, Russell and Ted tried to convince them that they'd had no idea of what was going there. They'd made it a short distance away when Johnston stopped. "Where's Dale?" Dale came running up from behind. "Dale, don't just wander off like that."

Dale grinned. He had the governor with him. Just behind were the vendor and several guards, who quickly surrounded them.

The guards took back the part and then hauled Dale away. Johnston tried to talk them releasing Dale to no avail. He resorted to good old fashioned brawling. It was going badly for Johnston and Jake until Russell pulled a gun. They made a break for Jake's car.

A barricade was closing across the front gate. Jake gunned the engine. "Jake. This car will not fit through that barricade. Stop the car." Johnston said, somehow remaining mostly calm.

Suddenly a truck veered in front of them. Russell was driving. He went to the side and blazed through a non-barricaded portion of fence. Jake followed.

They pulled up a short ride away. Johnston thanked Russell. "I don't know how this would've turned out if it weren't for you guys."

"You'll make it up to us someday," Russell replied.

"Those windmills you were looking to build," Ted said, "I was thinking maybe the guys at the old brake factory could convert part of the plant. They could help build what you need, and New Bern could use a good source of salt."

"Well, it looks like we'll be seeing a lot of each other," Johnston replied. They shook hands all around. Johnston went back to the car. Jake was about to follow when he noticed Heather hesitating. He could also see Ted throwing her meaningful looks.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I saw the mechanical governor, I know how it's put together. I was talking to Ted, and I think between the two of us we can make more of them. But I have to go with them."

"Right now? Can't we go home and think about this?"

"Jake…"

"If they're serious about converting part of the brake factory, we'll have to be meeting soon anyway. Please, just wait."

She looked up at him, her resolve wavering.

"You're right about that protective streak. I don't want anything to happen to you." He stopped for a moment. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you." He leaned in a little closer, resting his forehead on hers. "I love you."

"That's cheating, Jake Green."

"I know."

She stepped back from Jake. "Sorry, Ted," she called. "We'll talk soon, though, ok?"

Ted nodded unhappily. Jake didn't miss the looks that the guys threw to each other. He had a bad feeling about dealing with New Bern.

* * *

On the drive back to Jericho, Jake tried to explain himself to Heather. "I know how strongly you feel about the windmills, and I know we need them; but I just feel like something's going on in New Bern."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. But the way Russell acted…I've seen that before."

"What do you mean?"

"Like…a decent guy being forced to do something he doesn't want to do."

"Isn't that true of everyone these days?"

"Yeah, but there's more to it. If New Bern's been dealing with that vendor for awhile, it's not likely that they wouldn't know exactly what happens there. Mike didn't even flinch when Dale found those cots."

Heather frowned in thought. "Anything else?"

"How would New Bern just be able to start up that factory again? I wouldn't think it would be worth the effort and cost just for a few parts."

Heather sighed. "Ok, I guess you weren't just making something up to keep me around." She fell silent, gazing out the window though it was dark. "What did you mean when you said you've seen decent guys forced into things they don't like?"

Jake sighed. He glanced into the rearview mirror. Dale and Johnston appeared to be sleeping. "I did a lot of stuff after I left Jericho."

"I'll say. I heard about three different stories about you."

"Well, never intended to stay, so I didn't really care what got spread around. For a while I worked for a contractor, like Ravenwood. I was driving a truck in Iraq. It was bad. The guys I were with started out decent; but you can't work for those contractors long if you have a conscience. Some of them stayed too long-they didn't care who they killed so long as they got paid."

"Oh, Jake," Heather said. She reached for his hand.

* * *

**A/N: I just realized watching Jericho this time through that it would be a bit dodgy for New Bern to be able to get a factory up and running just to manufacture a few small parts. Supplies are low for everyone-where would they get the power for the factory? Yes, I realize they already actually have it up and running making mortars, but Jericho doesn't know that. I would think Jake would pick up on something being funny about that. And, of course, being Jake, he would have valid reasons for not wanting Heather to go, not just that he loves her.**


	13. Heart of Winter

A vehicle carrying four men pulled into Jericho. Two of them were Ted and Russell, who got out and headed for town hall. A third man got out and began to walk around Jericho, taking mental notes. The fourth man stayed inside the car.

Ted and Russell entered Mayor Anderson's office. "Gentlemen," Gray greeted them. "I don't think we've met."

Russell introduced himself and Ted and explained that they had come to discuss a business proposition-trading windmills for salt.

"That's right. Heather had mentioned something about it." Gray stepped out the door. "Bill, will you get Heather and Harry Carmichael to come over here right away?"

Heather was just about to go into Gray's office when she saw Jake in another room. She quickly came over to say hello.

"Stanley and I are about to head out hunting," Jake said. "We may have to go pretty far, but we'll be home by dark."

"Ok," Heather said. "I've got a meeting. I should get going." She gave Jake a quick kiss. "For luck," she said with a wink as she headed back over to Gray's office.

During the meeting, Heather told Ted that she and Harry had been working together and they'd managed to draw some technical schematics for a mechanical governor. Gray agreed to give New Bern a copy of the plan. Once they found out if it worked, they could come back and discuss what a windmill might be worth in trade. Well-satisfied, Ted and Russell returned to their car and the four men headed back to New Bern.

* * *

Jake and Stanley were loading Stanley's truck. They had sleeping bags, gas cans, extra guns, and several packs of other supplies.

"Hey, Jake? Mimi's coming with us."

"What?"

"If something happens to me, I want to make sure she knows how to trap and shoot, ok?"

Jake had to shake his head. The thought of Mimi shooting, let alone trapping, something was laughable.

* * *

"My grandmother went faster than this, and she didn't even have a car," Mimi complained. "You know, this is crazy. I told you that I can't hunt. Now you want me to kill Bambi."

"Look, you have to learn alright? Everyone's doing their part, Bonnie's been out twice," Stanley replied.

"Well, good for fricking Bonnie. Bonnie grew up on a farm. The closest I ever got to the outdoors was the Ralph Lauren section at Neiman Marcus."

"There you go, bargain hunting. This is the same thing but with a gun."

"Bargains, at Neiman's?" She laughed. "Sometimes I forget the biggest designer in your closet is Wrangler."

Jake laughed.

"What?" Stanley asked.

"I've never seen you in a domestic squabble before."

"Knock it off."

"This isn't squabbling," Mimi informed Jake.

Squabbling or not, it was brought to an end when Stanley pulled off to the side of the road. All three of them got out. An expanse of trampled ground spread out before them. It was littered with leftover blankets, clothing, remnants of campfires, and bodies. A pack of dogs was gnawing away at a corpse. Finally, they dragged themselves back to the truck and drove away.

* * *

"Wager for the first kill," Jake said as they bounced along.

Stanley replied, "I'm in for a dozen eggs."

Jake thought for a while. "Two hours chopping wood."

"Tax return consultation," Mimi said.

"How about foot massages for a week?" Stanley asked. "For me, not for him," he added.

"We'll talk."

"Stanley, stop," Jake said. A large four-door black pickup truck was stopped in front of them.

"What are they doing?" Stanley said.

"They're blocking the whole road!" Mimi exclaimed.

Jake gritted his teeth. "More like staking it out. Alright, turn around."

"And go where?" Stanley demanded.

"I don't know, just do it alright? Turn around. Find another road."

Stanley kept his eyes glued to the rearview mirror as he turned. "Jake…"

"I see it... damn it." The truck was following them. Stanley tried to outrun it while Jake hung out the window and fired a few shots. The truck sped up, charging them. Stanley veered to avoid it, going up over a slight hill with only the left tires. His truck flipped and crashed to the ground.

* * *

Mimi was the first to revive. She did a mental check to make sure she was still alive. Her next thought was Stanley. "Stanley? Stanley?!" She crawled out of the truck and unsuccessfully tried to wake him.

She got up and walked around to the other side. "Jake? Jake?" Jake's eyes fluttered open. "Stanley's not up." She helped Jake sit up as she knelt beside him. Over the edge of the cab they saw the black truck returning.

"Oh, my God," Jake said. "Go, go hide!" Mimi scrambled over a rise just behind Stanley's truck. Jake threw whatever he could reach after her. He desperately tried to reach his gun, but his leg was pinned and he couldn't move. He had to give up and play dead while several men in ski masks took all the supplies. They also stripped Jake and Stanley of their outer coats.

The second they had jumped back into their own truck, Jake called Mimi back.

Stanley finally woke up. He was fine except for an injury to his ankle. He couldn't walk, only hop. He came over to where Jake lay. He was about to try to lift the truck cab when Mimi stopped him.

"Stanley, don't. We can't do this ourselves; you might make it worse."

"Maybe you could dig me out," Jake suggested.

"Alright. Help me get the shovels, they're in the bed of the truck."

"It's gone," Mimi said.

"Alright. Get the jack, the jack's back there-"

"They took everything," Mimi said.

* * *

Pinned to the frozen ground, Jake's legs were numb. They couldn't build a fire-the crash had damaged the gas tank. "You have to get back to town," Jake said.

Stanley tried to take a step, but his ankle buckled. Mimi stepped up. "No, you can't on that ankle. I'll go."

"Ok," Jake said, "Jericho has a patrol 5 miles out of town; we couldn't have come  
more than 10."

"Jake, it's too dangerous," Stanley objected.

"With no sleeping bags and no fire, one of us goes or we all die here."

Stanley sighed but agreed. He gave Mimi directions to get back to town. Then he hobbled around gathering as much dried grass as possible to try to insulate Jake.

"Hey, Jake, remember the time we got stuck on the roof of town hall in the middle of a lightning storm?"

Jake nodded. "You were so afraid the lightning was going to blow up the fireworks."

"You squealed like a little girl, wanting to jump off that roof."

"That was you. Your voice hadn't changed yet."

"Please, I had you beat by 6 months."

Jake shivered, making it difficult to distinguish the shake of his head. It was beginning to snow. "Stanley, there's an abandoned cabin about a quarter mile back. It'll be hard but you can make it. You need to get inside, it'll be dark soon."

"No way."

"Stanley, there's no point in both of us freezing to death out here."

"You wouldn't leave me anymore than I'd leave you. Mimi will be back soon."

* * *

There was a knock on the Greens' door. Gail hopped out from the under the blanket she was snuggled in with Johnston to answer it. "Heather, sweetheart, come in. What are you doing out in this weather?"

Heather closed the door behind her and brushed snowflakes from her hair. "Is Jake back yet?" Gail shook her head. "He told me this morning that they'd be back before dark. But with the storm coming in, I thought they might head back early. And it's after dark now…"

"Johnston, get ready. We have to go look for Jake," Gail commanded.

* * *

Jake was struggling in his battle against the cold. Stanley tried to keep him awake by rambling about the plans they'd made as kids. He tried to get Jake to talk about San Diego-weather, what he did, girls. "Did you have a girl there? I know you had a girl."

The mention of a girl seemed to do something to Jake. "She's dead," he mumbled.

"Wait a minute. You don't know that. It all depends on where she was when the bombs went off. Tell me about her. What was her name?"

"She's dead. It was my fault."

"It wasn't your fault, Jake."

"Let me lay down," he pleaded.

"No. Stay with me, Jake," Stanley said. He moved to sit behind Jake, wrapping his arms around him in a last-ditch attempt to protect Jake from the frigid wind.

* * *

Mimi was stumbling along the road. It was dark. She had no idea how far she'd walked. She wanted desperately to give up, but she forced herself to keep moving.

Headlights approached. Mimi dove into the ditch, begging, "Please don't hurt me, please don't hurt me."

Gail and Johnston ran out to her. "It's Gail and Johnston Green, honey, you're safe," Johnston said as Gail pulled Mimi to her feet. They got her into their truck and hurriedly drove to where Jake and Stanley waited.

Gail and Heather ran to cover Jake while Johnston gently pulled Stanley to his feet. Mimi guided him to the truck. "Gail, we're not gonna be able to get this truck off him. I need you to take these guys back to town and get me some help out here. Signal when you come back so I know it's you."

"Alright, I'll flash the lights." Gail hurried back to the truck and sped off.

Johnston and Heather sat down, sandwiching Jake between them. Johnston pulled the sleeping bag up to Jake's chin. "Open your eyes, Jake. Look at me, son."

"I can see her."

"See who, Jake?" Heather said softly.

"The girl."

"What girl? Jake, I think you're hallucinating, son."

Jake, shivering, shook his head again. "Listen to me. When I was in Iraq, there was a girl. She couldn't have been more than 10 or 12-"

"Shhh, don't talk now, save your energy. We can talk when we get home," Johnston said.

"I killed her, Dad." Jake gulped. "I killed a little girl," he continued in a whisper.

Headlights approached. Johnston pulled out his gun as Heather ducked her head to Jake's chest. The lights flashed. It was Gail, followed by another vehicle. Several firemen and Eric jumped out. They lifted the truck and Johnston and Gail slid Jake free. He was lifted onto a board and then loaded into the truck. Johnston drove while Gail and Heather huddled with Jake in the back seat.

Back at the Greens', Jake was wrapped into layers of quilts and blankets. April looked him over and declared that, aside from hypothermia, he was fine. Heather hovered nearby with hot tea.

"Would you mind giving us a minute alone?" Johnston asked. She nodded and left the room, but stopped once she was just out of sight.

"Dad," Jake said quietly, still shivering, "what I said out there, please forget it. Please." He hung his head.

"Afraid I can't do that. I've seen a lot of things in my time, Jake. I've been to war. I know what war can do. I know what men can do. Terrible, terrible things." He looked Jake in the eye. "I know what I did. You can talk to me." Jake began crying. Johnston caressed his head. "When you're ready, son." He pulled Jake's head a little closer and kissed his hair, tears in his own eyes. "When you're ready," he whispered. Johnston stood and left the room.

Heather slipped back in. "Come here," she said, gently pulling Jake from the chair onto the sofa. She pulled him close. Jake cried into her shoulder as she soothingly rubbed his arms and back through the blankets.


	14. Semper Fidelis

As winter came, people in Jericho began losing hope. Many packed up what possessions they had and loaded up their cars, thinking they could find better conditions elsewhere. Gray Anderson didn't have a problem with that-it left fewer people in town for him to worry about.

After Jake and Stanley had nearly frozen to death, Jake convinced Heather to move into the Greens' home-it was practical, he argued. It was a waste for Heather to try to keep her house warm for one person.

"Is practicality your only motive here, Jake?" she asked with a wicked grin.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I wouldn't have to worry about you over there alone, and I'd be a lot happier seeing more of you." He paused. "And yes, I did mean it like that."

Heather smacked him, but not hard, and she giggled afterward.

* * *

One morning at a small meeting, Gray announced that he wanted to kick the refugees out. Roger argued heatedly against it, but Gray was unmoved. The meeting was interrupted by a tank rolling through town, coming to a halt on Main Street in front of town hall.

"Who's in charge here?" a man in an Army uniform asked.

Gray stepped forward. "Gray Anderson, I'm the mayor of Jericho."

"We're the United States Marines, and we're here to help."

The commander, Gunnery Sergeant Hill, reassured everyone that the government was back up and running. It had been established in Columbus, Ohio, and the Marines had been sent to restore power, communications, and infrastructure throughout Kansas. The crowd went wild-finally, help was coming! Jake and Heather were speechless, looking at each other. Jake caught a glimpse of Stanley and Mimi kissing. "Hey, there are kids out here. Get a room!" he joked. Stanley grabbed Jake, Heather, and Mimi and they had a Stanley group hug.

One of the Marines, Lance Corporal Maggie Mullin, was looking for radio parts since their radio had been hit. "Maybe we can help," Jake said, as he and Heather stepped forward.

"You the town's electronic experts?" she asked.

"No, but we can improvise."

"I'll take that," Cpl. Mullins replied.

"Why don't we try that old HAM radio at city hall?" Heather asked. "No one ever got it to work, right?"

"Let's go," the corporal said.

They chatted as they worked, disassembling one radio to put its parts into the other. "So what made you join the Marines?" Jake asked.

"I had an office job, but I got bored. I wanted to see the world."

"Have you?"

"I've seen Omaha." They all chuckled. "What about you, Jake?"

"Have I seen the world? Yeah. I just saw all the wrong places." He fell silent, gazing into the distance.

"You have got this brooding bad-boy thing down to an art," Maggie remarked.

"Tell me about it," said Heather.

"Hey," Jake said defensively.

"It's one of the things I like about you," Heather said, pacifying him. "How often do girls like me actually get the bad boy? This is like…the ultimate underdog story."

"You guys make a good team," Maggie remarked.

"Yeah," Jake said, looking down at Heather with a smile.

"Well, I think that's done it," Maggie said. She picked up the headset and tried it. She was able to reach Division Headquarters in Dodge City. A string of orders in abbreviated terms issued forth, then the transmission was ended. Maggie reluctantly picked up her bags and headed for the door.

"What's going on?" Jake asked.

"We just got ordered back to Dodge City," Maggie replied.

Jake and Heather exchanged concerned glances.

Outside, the Marines were a flurry of activity as they readied for departure. Gray, desperate to get Jericho higher on the 'help list', bribed the gunnery sergeant with fuel and supplies, and a big party.

Jake and Heather were in the sheriff's office packing up supplies. A voice crackled over the radio. "Lima Charlie Thunder, this is Charlie Company Actual, do you copy? Lima Charlie, it's cold as hell out here."

Jake raced to answer it. "Hello. This is Jake Green."

"Jake Green, this is an official Marine channel. Get off this frequency."

Jake heard pops and booms over the line. "Hello? Are you taking fire?" No one answered. He heard some more booms outside and went to look-fireworks. He gestured to Heather. "Leave that stuff. Come on."

They headed outside and found Stanley. "Hey, I need you take some guys from our patrol and do a sweep of the area, alright?" Jake said. "Take guns."

"Are you kidding, Jake? We got the U.S. Marine Corps here-"

"Something's wrong about all this, trust me."

"Ok. What am I looking for?"

"A guy with a radio for starters. Check anywhere within earshot of the fireworks."

Inside at the dinner, Gray stood briefly. "In honor of the occasion, I was hoping former Sergeant Green would say a few words."

Johnston, surprised, stood. "Ladies and gentlemen, the Marine Corps has a motto, semper fidelis. Always faithful. And I think it's very fitting that in our darkest hour, it was Marines who came to our rescue. Never before in our nation's history has a motto been so tried and so necessary. So, Gunny, marines, semper fi."

"Oorah," Gunnery Sergeant Hill replied. "Hooah!" the other Marines shouted. Johnston's face fell. He sat back down and engaged the gunny in conversation, again using semper fi. The gunny replied with 'oorah,' but the others chorused 'hooah.' Johnston excused himself and Gail. Jake and Heather met them just outside the door. "Downstairs," Johnston said.

Jake spoke first. "I just heard the fireworks over the Marines' radio, and Dodge City is 200 miles away. They've got somebody on the edge of town pretending to be their headquarters. I sent Stanley and a couple guys to check it out. Tell me I'm crazy."

"If you are, so am I," Johnston replied. "Nobody calls an NCO 'sir,' and a Marine would never say 'hooah.' That's an Army thing. These guys did both. Marines are all about detail."

"Well, if they're not Marines, who are they?" Gail asked.

"People with enough firepower to wipe us out," Johnston replied.

"And we gave them half the town's supplies," Jake said.

They decided that Gail and Johnston would go back inside and try to tell Gray while Jake and Heather waited for Stanley to return.

Jake then decided to confront Maggie at Gracie's market, leaving Heather at town hall. Stanley came over the radio and told Jake that they'd found a guy camping out with a radio. They were going to bring him in.

Jake shook his head. "Was any of it real?" he asked Maggie.

"The gun's real." He turned to find Maggie pointing a gun at him. She explained why they were conning people and how they'd gotten the tank and uniforms. She concluded by saying, "Don't get yourself killed doing something stupid, Jake. I don't want that on my conscience."

Jake shined his flashlight at her face. "You don't have it in you." He crumpled to the ground as Sgt. Hill hit him from behind.

He scolded Maggie for revealing them. "What do we do with him now?" he demanded.

"Why don't we just leave? We're not killers," she said.

"It's him or us," Hill countered.

"I vote for you," Johnston said as several shotgun barrels materialized in the door frame.

The fake Marines aimed their weapons also.

"You know, ammunition being in such short supply," Johnston continued, "I doubt those weapons are even loaded."

"You wanna take that chance?" Hill asked.

"I know damn well this one is," Johnston replied evenly.

Gray approached and punched the 'gunny' out. The 'Marines' were taken into custody. "We still have laws in Jericho, and tomorrow I'm gonna let the town decide what to do with you," Gray said.

"We can't do that, Gray. You said it yourself, without some x factor we don't make it through winter. This is it. People need faith as much as they need food."

"People are gonna find out."

"Eventually. But by then the worst of it will be over."

"So what do we do with them?"

"Give them a hero's exit."

* * *

The Marines paraded through Main Street one last time amidst the wild cheers of the townspeople.

Outside of the town, they halted as several Jericho border patrol guards relieved them of their weapons and the tank. They were given a few days' worth of food and sent on their way. "Be careful," Jake said to Maggie as she walked by.

"What do we do?" Jake asked his father.

"We soldier on."

Jake turned toward the tank. "What do we do with that?"

"Oh." Johnston approached the tank. "Stanley, you got any room in your barn?"

"Seriously?"

"Why not? Never know when you might need a tank."

* * *

**A/N: I didn't include the Robert/Sarah scenes, but don't you love that shot of Allison Hawkins with the smoking gun in her hands?**


	15. Winter's End

Jake came into the med center. "That's it, we're on our last tank of diesel," he told Gail and April.

"How long will we have power?" Gail asked.

"Ten, 12 hours, so turn off anything you're not using."

A tray clattered behind them. April had collapsed. She was moved into a room where Gail and the new staff member at the med center, medical student Jessica Williams, who'd arrived with Roger, discussed the issue. "My gut is telling me the baby is having problems," Jessica said. "And if I know it, she knows it."

Gail went to the med center basement to look for an ultrasound machine. She sent Jake to find Johnston and Eric.

* * *

On Main Street, a pickup carrying a windmill and several men from New Bern pulled up. Johnston and Gray came out to meet it.

"Johnston, you SOB, how the hell did you lose an election?" said a bearded man.

"The question is how'd you get to be in charge in New Bern?" Johnston returned. "They get tired of you being sheriff?"

"I'm still the sheriff. Just have a little more authority," Phil Constantino replied. It was ominous somehow.

Johnston introduced Phil to Gray and they walked over to examine the windmill.

Jake walked up. He saw Russell and shook his hand. "Hey Dad, you seen Eric?"

Johnston shook his head. "Did you try Mary's?"

"Yeah, tried there, tried Bailey's." He turned to the windmill. "Does this thing work? Can we get power out of it?"

"Probably some time tomorrow," Russell replied.

"Let's get it up as soon as possible. I think we're gonna need it at the med center."

* * *

Jake returned to the med center with the news that Johnston had sent Bill to look for Eric. He, Gail, and Jessica went into April's room. Her face was contorted in pain. "I'm feeling contractions," she said. "It's too soon." She told them what medicine she needed and Jessica went to search for it. April gave back-up instructions to Gail just before she blacked out again. Gail that April was bleeding. "Get Kenchy now," she ordered Jake.

Jake returned with Kenchy. "You smell like a wino," Jessica said.

"Nice to meet you, too. Her pressure, please." Kenchy got straight down to business rattling off instructions. Everyone hurried to comply.

* * *

On Main Street, installation of the windmill had begun. Gray studied it. "Hey, Phil, can we buy some more of these things?"

Phil smiled. "Yeah. Let's talk about it." Gray didn't seem to notice Phil's predatory air.

It was unmistakable in the negotiations, however. Phil wanted ten percent of the spring crop. "Starve next spring, or freeze this winter; take your pick." He walked away.

Heather, who'd come to watch the installation and help if necessary, tried to catch Russell's eye. He refused to meet her gaze. A moment later, he turned and followed Constantino.

* * *

Kenchy had examined April and studied the ultrasound. "I can't find out what' really going on without operating."

"So what do we do?" Gail said.

"Under the best of circumstances this is not an operating facility," Kenchy replied.

"Tell us what you need," Jake said.

"No, I'm not going through this again. I've seen hundreds of people die because of dirty facilities and infection and because I didn't have the proper medicine or the equipment that I needed." He pulled off his gloves and threw them to the floor.

"We are not losing this baby," Gail said.

"You can find yourself another butcher," Kenchy said. He stormed out of the room.

Gail, Jessica, and Jake followed.

"We need a sterile operating room, sterile instruments, anesthesia, spinal block tray, caesarian tray." Kenchy also objected to surgery without an electro-cautery machine.

"Can't we use sponges to stop the bleeding?" Jessica asked.

"We've got several spinal block trays, we have anesthesia," Gail said.

"And we can boil the sheets and the tools," Jessica added.

"Is it possible?" Jake asked.

"Remotely," Kenchy grudgingly acknowledged.

"Then start," Jake told him.

* * *

Stanley approached Gray and Johnston. "People are starting to wonder why you're not making the deal."

"I'm not gonna leverage next winter's food," Gray said. The three disputed for a few minutes.

"What if we tell New Bern we'll give them ten percent of the crop? We get power now. Come spring, if we don't have the produce to give, we don't give it up," Stanley finally suggested.

Johnston stared at him. "That's how wars get started."

* * *

Jake led Eric to the operating room.

"Is the baby ok?" Eric demanded.

"I don't know. Mom said there was a problem."

"I was out cutting wood with Mary," Eric said.

"You don't have to explain to me," Jake replied.

"What about Mom?"

"Don't worry about that."

Eric entered the operating room. Gail glanced out the door and saw Mary. "Shut the door," she said. Jake obeyed.

* * *

Johnston popped his head into the hallway for a moment to get an update from Jake, but he had to leave again quickly.

Heather had also come in. She leaned against the wall and slid down next to Jake. "How are you holding up?"

"Not great," he admitted. "I've only gotten to know April these past two months, and even though we've been living in the same house I can't say I know her well. We're both always busy with something." He became quiet for a few moments. "April doesn't have any other family, either. That's part of why Mom is so protective of her, the only daughter." He chuckled softly.

* * *

Inside the operating room, Gail was starting to worry. Kenchy hadn't let her take a heartbeat from the baby in over an hour. The power flickered and died. Eric opened the door and Mimi opened the blinds to get as much light as possible.

Gail lost the baby's heartbeat. "Why aren't you doing something about the baby?"

Jessica answered. "This hasn't been about the baby for several hours. The baby never really had a chance, I'm sorry."

"What are you saying?" Eric asked.

Kenchy deliberately paused. "I am trying to save April."

* * *

Johnston returned to Gray's office to talk with Phil and Russell. Phil had added the demand of 700 pounds of salt to the previous price. "That's the cost of power in this world."

"We have people freezing to death in their homes. Give us a break," Gray said.

Phil looked unconcerned.

"You were at my son's wedding," Johnston said, narrowing his eyes in contempt.

"I'm sorry for your troubles, but we got our own." Neither Johnston or Gray spoke. Phil made to get up and leave.

"Ok, ok, we'll give you the food, the salt, everything," Gray said.

"Alright. We can have the wind turbines to you in a couple weeks. What guarantee do we have that you'll give us our share of the crop?"

"You have our word," Johnston said.

Phil shook his head ever so slightly. "We're gonna need ten Jericho men to help us build them. We can take them back with us now."

"Is this about manpower for the turbines-" Gray began.

"Or about making sure you get our crops come spring?"

"Human beings as collateral?" Phil scoffed. "I would never do that." Russell lowered his gaze guiltily. "But I am not gonna build these things on credit. You want 'em now, you're gonna help make 'em."

* * *

Kenchy and then Eric ran past, startling Jake out of his stupor. With a look at Heather, he stood up and followed them outside. Eric was shoving Kenchy around. Jake broke in between them. "Let me handle it," he told Eric. "Go back inside, April needs you." He turned to Kenchy. "What's going on?"

"To go on operating is cruel and pointless," Kenchy told him.

"If you stop trying, and I stop, then they see that and this whole thing falls apart. We're all leaning on each other here."

"Promise me you are not saying we are all connected, that this is not some existential web-of-life BS."

"Then tell me what you wanna hear, 'cause I'll say anything if you'll just go back in there and keep trying."

Kenchy looked at Jake. "She's going to die."

Jake nodded and took a slight step back. "I know." They each took a breath and sighed. Jake led him back inside.

* * *

After Kenchy had finished operating, April was taken to a recovery room. Eric sat with her, holding her hand. She woke up for just a moment. She looked at him. "I like the name Tracy."

"Tracy's a beautiful name," Eric whispered, kissing her hand that he held clenched in his own.

April closed her eyes again and drew her last breath.

Gail was the first one to come in. She stood behind Eric and ran a hand through his hair while Eric clutched the other. Johnston came in a few moments later and stood next to Gail, wrapping one arm around his wife and the other around his son. Jake and Heather followed and knelt on the other side of April's bed. Jake extended his hand to Eric across the bed. Eric looked over at him and took it. Heather laid one hand on top of theirs and Jake curled his other arm around her.

* * *

As the morning dawned, the lights in the med center flickered back on-the wind turbine was working.

Later that morning, the guys from New Bern headed back. Stanley said goodbye to Bonnie and Mimi. Eric said goodbye to Mary, Johnston, Heather, Jake, and finally Gail. "We'll take care of Mary," she whispered to him.

As the Jericho men jumped into the truck bed, Jake walked over and cornered Russell. "My dad told me what's going on. First you're helping us, now this. What the hell's going on?"

Russell shifted uncomfortably. "They'll be fine. I'm gonna look after them. You have to trust me on this."

"Trust?"

"This isn't me."

"If anything happens to any of them, you're the first one I come for."

"I know."

* * *

**A/N: By this point, Gail has completely adopted Heather, therefore it's not out of place for her to be with them in April's room at the end. Really, can you imagine Gail not mothering anyone who doesn't have parents? And all the more so someone who is dating her son.**


	16. One Man's Terrorist, AKA

The town of Jericho was practically rioting-food was nearly gone. The town was divided between two ideas: make do with less or send the refugees packing.

Gray finally decided it was time for the refugees to go.

Roger and Gray faced off yet again. Gray was unwilling to compromise; violence escalated. Gray even threw tear gas into the church basement where the refugees had barricaded themselves. In a fit of desperation, Roger struggled with Gray and accidentally shot him and then held him hostage.

* * *

One of the refugees broke into the Greens' home. He was looking for superglue. Gail silently found it and handed it to him.

"I wish there was more that we could do," Gail told him.

"Ma'am, there are empty houses all over town, and we sleep in a shelter."

"Those are our neighbors' homes. They were gone when the bombs went off. They're coming back," Gail said.

"Yeah, well, I sure hope wherever your neighbors are that they aren't getting kicked out in the middle of winter."

That statement got Gail thinking.

* * *

Jake had managed to arrange transportation for the refugees so they would at least be able to travel safely. As they loaded onto the bus, Gail came running toward them. "We can't let this happen."

Gail addressed the gathered crowd. "You can't let them go out there. A woman died on Main Street today. I didn't even know her name. Did you? Think of our neighbors who haven't made it back yet. That's who they are," she cried, pointing at the busload of people. "Now, my family can feed two people. Who else here is willing to share their rations?" A few people in the crowd raised their hands. Gail kept talking and more people volunteered.

Roger finally exited town hall, now using Jake as a hostage. "Roger, it's over," Gail said. "They can stay. We found them homes."

The refugees were allowed to stay. The people of Jericho would share their rations and open the many abandoned houses.

Roger, however, had to leave. "I'm coming with you," Emily told him.

"No, you're not. I did this so the people I love can be safe. I'm not taking the person I love most out on those roads."

"I can handle it," she said.

"I can't," he replied.

* * *

Roger was sent off with a backpack of what bottled water and canned food the refugees and sympathetic townsfolk could find. Jake made sure he had a warm coat and a gun. He told Roger to try New Bern-the people there from Jericho might be able to help him.

Roger cast a final glance around and began to walk.

Once he was out of sight, Jake headed home. He spotted Emily. She had a large backpack and was dressed for a long, cold walk. "Emily," he called.

"Don't try to stop me, Jake," she said. "I can't stay here wondering if he's alive or not, I can't never see him again. I already went through that once."

"I wasn't going to stop you," he said. "I know better when you're mind's made up. Do you have everything you need?"

"Yeah. Cleaned out my kitchen. You can tell Gray or whoever's in charge that my house is open for refugees. I won't be back."

"Do you have a gun?"

"Yeah, one of Jonah's. Who knows, maybe we'll run into him out there, somewhere. Have a real family reunion."

Jake gave her a goodbye hug. "You get out there and protect Roger."

"I will."

* * *

**A/N: Very intense episode, but Jake-light and not much in the way of Jake/Heather opportunities. And that's right, Emily goes after Roger. She needed to show some backbone. Girl can hold a grudge, but that's about all she's ever good for. I think it's a better character move for her to go after Roger. As far as I'm concerned, Emily only gets Jake in the show because she's the blonde, not because she's a better match for him.**

**I've chosen not to do the entire episode 19, ****A.K.A.**** It's crucial to the plot of Jericho, but not to the Jake/Heather storyline. The following is conversation on the day that episode takes place, very early on and then after Jake finds out Hawkins has the bomb. I stole Emily's bat signal line and gave it to Heather…*evil laugh* I also borrowed one scene from the flashbacks to Eric's wedding and snuck a mention of it in here.**

* * *

Jake and Heather were walking down Main Street. Jimmy came up to them. "Hey Jake, can I borrow you for a few minutes?"

Jake looked apologetically at Heather. She smiled. "We ought to get you a bat signal or something," she said. "See you at home."

Jake kissed Heather goodbye and followed Jimmy.

* * *

When Jake walked through his door, it was mid-afternoon. He wandered to the kitchen, where he found Heather washing some dishes. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "There you are. I was beginning to think no one was home."

Heather dropped the dishrag into the cool dishwater. She turned to face Jake and gave him a big welcome home kiss. "It's just us at the moment. Your dad's been out brooding in a deer stand all day-those were your mom's word, not mine. She just went to take him some dinner." She looked up into his face for awhile. "You look like you've seen a ghost but you don't want to admit it to anyone," she finally said.

"Something like that." He pulled her by the hand into the living and they curled up on the couch.

"What could Jimmy have possibly done that kept you all day and freaked you out?" Heather asked teasingly.

"It wasn't really what Jimmy did." Jake blew out a deep breath. "I'm not going to lie to you, but I found out something today and I can't tell you what it is. And no, Jimmy wasn't the one who told me. But it's big; big and scary."

Heather turned so she could read Jake's face. She looked him in the eye for a long moment. "Ok," she said finally. "I trust you." She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I think everyone trusts you. Why else would the entire town need you to fix their problems all the time?"

"It's funny. There was a time when nobody thought I could do anything right. Now…" Jake shook his head. "So how was your day?"

"Well, we've been trying to get the kids back into school with not much success. I wound up coming home early." Heather sighed. "It's so quiet here now without April…"

"You probably miss her more than I do," Jake mused. "I only met her once before the wedding and I didn't leave a good impression. And at their wedding…my family didn't even trust me to give the best man's toast. Mom wrote a speech for me, Eric wrote a speech for me. He told me he'd only asked me to be his best man because Mom made him." Jake paused, a wry smile on his face. "My own sister-in-law was practically a complete stranger to me." Jake held Heather tighter. "I have a feeling you're gonna be mothered to death from now on."

"I know," Heather smiled. "I love your mom. I spent over half my life without any mothering at all. It's kinda nice."

Gail arrived home a little while later. She peeked into the living to see 'her kids' curled up on the sofa, apparently dozing. She smiled, a little sadly, and went to the kitchen.

After dinner, the three sat in the living room. Jake built up the fire. Eventually, Johnston returned. They spent the rest of the night just enjoying being together.


	17. Casus Belli

A line of trucks pulled into Jericho-four windmills were being delivered.

Gray came out and addressed Russell. "It's good to see our guys back, but it'll take me some time to find guys to replace them."

"You don't need to replace them," Russell said.

"Our agreement was ten windmills for ten percent of the spring crop."

"You'll get your windmills, but we don't need your men." Gray cocked his head to one side. "Constantino called it an act of good faith."

"I didn't think Constantino knew that term." Gray paused. "But I'll take it," he finished with a shrug.

Mary wandered through the crowd. She found Stanley and gave him a hug. "Where's Eric?" she asked.

"He didn't come back, Mary. Said he wasn't ready." Mary's face fell. "But I'm sure he'll be back soon."

Jake was the next to find Stanley. He also asked where Eric was. Stanley pulled him aside. "Eric didn't come back with us. I haven't seen him for three days." He sighed. "I don't know what's going on in New Bern. When I asked about him, they couldn't tell me anything. Then the cops started escorting us wherever we went. Then today, out of nowhere, Russell tells us to pack it up, we're going home, like it wasn't safe for us there anymore."

Jake nodded and went off to question Russell. "Where's my brother?"

"I don't know," Russell said.

"What the hell's going on over there, Russell? Should I be worried about him?" Jake grabbed Russell and shoved him against the truck. "Should I be worried?"

Russell stared at the ground. "I would be."

* * *

Jake went to Hawkins for help. They headed for New Bern and right off the bat ran into difficulties. At first they couldn't get past the road block. Then, a deputy escorted them in. As they got out of the car, they were surrounded by a group of children begging for food. Once they managed to talk to Constantino, all he would say was that Eric was gone and it wasn't too safe for people from Jericho-rumors were flying that Jericho had sent Ravenwood to attack them and that Jericho was planning on going back on the deal about the food.

Constantino took them to the factory. Ted Lewis came up to them, saying Eric had just headed home this morning. Jakes and Hawkins were 'encouraged' to pack it up and head back to Jericho. As they waited at the roadblock to leave town, Hawkins asked, "You buying any of that story?"

"Nope," Jake replied, "and neither was Ted. Slipped me this when he shook my hand." It was a note with an address.

Jake and Hawkins drove a little way out of New Bern, then stashed the car and snuck back in and went to the address Ted had given them. Deputy Perkins was staking it out. Jake and Hawkins grabbed Perkins from the truck and took him inside Ted's trailer.

"Where's Eric?" Jake asked Ted.

"I don't know; ask him," Ted said, gesturing at Perkins. "He told me this morning he'd throw me in jail if I didn't feed you that lie about Eric."

"So you haven't seen him?'

"Not for a couple days."

Jake and Hawkins turned their attention to Perkins. Hawkins explored Ted's kitchen, gathering an assortment of items. "Getting answers in easy. Getting the truth takes work," he explained.

Perkins claimed that Eric had sabotaged the factory and then run away. Hawkins decided they needed to check out what was going on in that factory. He sent Ted to a safe location and they left Perkins handcuffed to a pipe.

* * *

Russell, trying to stave off trouble, approached Skylar and Dale about making a deal involving the salt mine. "Believe me, this is good for everyone," he said.

* * *

Jake and Hawkins searched the factory and found the big secret-plans to divvy up Jericho…and mortars.

Jake impulsively raced out to try and stop them, unwittingly playing right into Constantino's plans.

Jake was caught and thrown in jail. He found Eric in the cell across from him.

* * *

Russell came to Gray's office and tried to sell him on the idea of letting New Bern have a quarter stake in the salt mine. Gray adamantly refused. "The mine is not for sale!"

"A lot of people in New Bern think it should be."

"I don't care what they think!"

"Well, you need to. I know you don't think this deal is a good thing right now, but trust me, you do not want the alternative."

* * *

Eric explained to Jake how he and Maggie, the one from the company of fake Marines, had accidentally discovered what New Bern was planning. They'd been caught trying to sabotage the factory. Eric had been thrown in jail…Maggie had been killed.

Outside the jail, Constantino was stirring up the crowd with anti-Jericho sentiment. At the height of his speech, he had Eric and Jake hauled out and shown to the crowd. "These are the sons of Johnston Green, sent to wreak havoc on this town; proof that if those people had their way, we would cease to exist," Constantino said, his voice ringing out over the crowd. "Well, I'm here to promise you that I will not let that happen."

**A/N: See, Heather didn't really need to go to New Bern. Constantino was just waiting to attack Jericho, he would have even if the windmills hadn't entered the picture. They just gave him an easy opportunity.**


	18. One if By Land, Coalition of the Willing

In Jericho, a conflict was about to erupt at the salt mine. A bunch of men, standing around with guns, emotions running high, something was bound to go wrong. And something did-shooting erupted.

* * *

In New Bern, Constantino interrogated Jake. After Jake was taken back to his cell, the same one as Eric this time, he seated himself by his brother. Eric looked him over. "Looks like they went easy on you."

"Yeah, for now." Jake lowered his voice a little. "They haven't found Hawkins yet." He stood. "We're gonna get out of here."

Eric leaned his head against the wall. "How many people have to die before you don't care anymore?"

Jake knelt in front of him. "April's death was not your fault."

Eric shook his head. "I've seen, Jake. I don't think I can go back."

"Well, staying here and getting yourself killed isn't going to make you feel any better, trust me." Eric responded with a ghost of a smile.

* * *

When Heather came downstairs the next morning, she found Johnston alone. "Did you send Jake out anywhere? He wasn't around all day yesterday and he still isn't here."

Johnston shook his head.

Heather closed her eyes. "You don't think-"

"I'm afraid I do. I'm gonna go find Russell." They both headed out the door, but were sidetracked by news of the shooting at the mine. They took a detour to the med center.

* * *

The victims from the shoot-out at the salt mine were brought in to the med center. Gail took over triage. Mary came in, bringing antiseptic she'd been making with the still. Heather came in at the same time and they were both set to work filling out charts so the nurses would be free to attend to injuries.

* * *

Russell went to Gray's office, still trying to convince him to support the salt mine deal. Johnston entered with the news that one man from New Bern had died.

"We need to work together while we still can!" Russell exclaimed. "Look, things are bad in New Bern. And when they find out that six of us of came here and only five are coming back…"

"What are you saying, Russell?" Johnston asked.

"You got people there. You should bring them home."

* * *

Eric was forcibly removed from the cell and taken for another 'interrogation'. The sounds that came from the room indicated it wasn't so much an interrogation as it was torture.

* * *

Johnston briefly stopped by the med center to tell Gail what was going on. "Russell and I are going to get Jake and Eric back from New Bern."

"Oh, my God," Gail murmured. "Be careful," she said. "If I lose all three of you, I swear to God…" Johnston enveloped Gail in a tight hug.

Heather walked up, laying a stack of charts on the nurses' station desk. She looked at Johnston and gave him a hug. "You come back, you understand?"

Johnston smiled down at her before turning and walking away.

Gail and Heather stood watching after he left. Heather put her arm around Gail's shoulders. "Gail," she said, "if you need to break down while the guys aren't around, I'm here."

"Later," she promised, giving Heather a hug. "Let's finish patching up the wounded first."

* * *

Johnston and Russell pulled up at the New Bern checkpoint. Russell talked their way inside. Johnston was trying to see Eric and Jake, but he was being put off. While he waited, Russell left to be with his own family, but not before making sure Johnston knew how to get out of town and avoid the checkpoint.

Meanwhile, Hawkins was forming a plan to bust Jake and Eric out.

* * *

Johnston had been escorted back to the New Bern checkpoint, without seeing his boys, when explosions started going off. Hawkins had set them as a diversion. Deputies raced to their cars to find out what was wrong, leaving Johnston unguarded, so he casually got into his truck and took off into town. At the jail, Constantino ordered the deputies interrogating Eric and Jake to move them to the warehouse. As they were escorted outside, uncuffed, Hawkins had his opportunity. He killed several deputies and Jake and Eric were able to overpower their guards. Johnston drove by in the nick of time to pick them up and rescue them from a gunfight. They made it a short distance out of town before the truck ran out of gas. The four walked the remaining 12 miles back to Jericho, taking sips of the whiskey Hawkins passed around-he'd had an emergency stash.

* * *

Mary had gone back to Bailey's after helping out for awhile at the med center. Gail came by later on in the afternoon. "I just wanted to return this," she said, handed Mary's jar back to her. "The antiseptic really helped."

"I've got another batch ready," Mary replied.

"We'll take it," Gail said.

Mary disappeared for a moment and returned with another jar of the liquid. The two women stood in uncomfortable silence for a few moments.

"Well, I'm going to head home, wait for the boys to get back." Gail said. She turned and took a few steps toward the door. "Heather will be there; you could come, too. I'm sure even my company would be better than waiting alone."

Mary smiled. "Thanks. I will."

* * *

The three women sat in the Greens' living room. They had visited a little, but as afternoon melted into evening and finally into night, they had fallen silent, each lost in her own thoughts.

Heather was the first to distinguish footsteps approaching. She sat up, instantly alert. Then Gail and Mary heard them as well. All three stood as the door opened and Johnston, Jake, and Eric entered. Gail ran to Eric and held him for a long time. She reluctantly let go as Eric spied Mary.

Heather had cast a welcoming smile at Eric, and another at Johnston, but her attention was soon directed elsewhere. First, she threw herself into Jake's arms and was greeted in return with a long kiss, then she stepped back and scolded Jake for going off to New Bern without telling anyone.

Mary took Eric to the med center while Johnston and Jake briefly outlined the situation to Gail and Heather.

"The only good news is that Roger and Emily didn't go to New Bern, so there's a chance they're still ok out there," Jake concluded.

* * *

**A/N: I'm not going to do the full episode 22, ****Coalition of the Willing****-another intense episode, but all action, very little to change. Here's the crux of the matter.**

* * *

"You brought this on yourself. No deals, no mercy. We're coming. This means war," Constantino's voice crackled over the radio. Gray turned it off. "Johnston, I need your help."

* * *

Jake and Hawkins pulled into Main Street with a load of guns. Johnston stepped up onto the tailgate of the truck. "Most of you have no idea what to do or what's coming. Some of you do. This isn't a fight about land or about this town. This is a fight for our very existence. Pray for each other. While you're at it, pray for the men and women of New Bern. Pray that God forgives us."

Jake hopped up. "Every able bodied person who needs a gun," he said, his voice breaking as he came to the next words, "sixteen years of age or older, line up."

Many came forward. Jake and Hawkins distributed the weapons, looking sadly at each face that came up. Last of all to approach was Heather. Jake closed his eyes and shook his head against the pain as he slowly handed her a gun. She took it in one hand and slipped her other hand into Jake's, saying without words that whatever was coming, they would face it together.


	19. Why We Fight

Soldiers found Maggie Mullin in a car wreck. She woke in a white room to the sound of beeping. She realized the room was actually a tent. She hopped off the table, groaning. She must have been in some kind of accident-everything hurt. She pushed through the flaps of the tent and stopped in her tracks-there were soldiers everywhere.

* * *

Jake and Eric headed a small group that was trying to repel New Bern's advance attack. Jake ran for high ground as the others were instructed to cover him. Heather found the most protected spot she could and started to fire-she was aiming for the tires of the New Bern vehicles. She figured if they wound up on foot, it would be a more even match.

The tank crested the hill, causing the men from New Bern to retreat.

The rejoicing was short-lived. Johnston had been shot.

He was carried back to the Richmond farm and laid on the kitchen table. Heather raced back into town to get Gail and Kenchy.

* * *

Maggie wandered around what turned out to be Camp Liberty. She found the C.O. and tried to warn him about the situation between New Bern and Jericho. He turned a deaf ear-until he was ordered to Jericho by Thomas Valente.

* * *

At the Richmond farm, Johnston requested that everyone be cleared from the house. Only Eric and Jake remained. Johnston struggled to speak. "This is where you survive. You make a stand, you hear? Here."

Jake nodded. "We will."

Johnston shifted his gaze to Eric. "I'm sorry you have to see this. You been through enough."

"Dad, Dad, stop," Eric said, tears streaming down his face.

"You're stronger than you think you are, though. Always have been. I love you, son."

Johnston struggled to move his eyes in Jake's direction. "I guess I zigged when I should've zagged out there, huh?" Jake laughed once. "Oh, I sure wish your mother was here. Tell your mother I love her." Johnston was beginning to lose focus. "I was…hard on you. I pushed you…away. I'm glad you…came…home." He managed to squeeze Jake's hand. "I'm proud of you," were his last words.

Jake and Eric threw their blood-covered arms around each other and cried.

They walked outside. Jake took a step forward, for a moment remembering the last time he'd given a speech…Eric's wedding.

_Okay, the big toast. Before I start, is there anyone who hasn't written me a speech? I mean, really, it makes me wonder how screwed up you think I am that I can't be trusted to say a few things about my brother. And the thing is…yeah. These are all pretty lame. Not one of them mentions my brother's musical theater phase when we all thought he was gay. Seriously, you have not heard disturbing until you've heard him singing "One Hand, One Heart" in the shower every morning. … I tease my brother a lot, but the truth is…truth is, I'm very proud of him. I'm proud of how kind he is. I'm proud of how giving he is. And he's a very lucky man. Really._ His mother had written the best part of that speech…

"My father's dead. We'll get through," Jake announced to the expectant faces.

People began trickling back into the house. Jake ordered Gray back into town for his own protection as Gail and Heather arrived. Everyone cleared out to allow Gail time to say goodbye to her husband.

Outside, Jake had practically collapsed on the porch, leaning against the side of the house with his knees drawn up to his chest. Heather knelt beside him and held her arms out. She held Jake while he cried, silent tears coursing down her own face. Johnston had become her father, too.

All too soon, Jake had to push his grief aside. Hawkins radioed that New Bern had regrouped and Jericho had maybe 20 minutes before they arrived.

Jake reached for Heather and gave her what for all he knew could be their final kiss.

He strode off to make final preparations. His father's words echoed through his mind: Sometimes what you feel like doing and doing what needs to be done are two different things…one day, I know you're gonna become the man I know you can be, the man you were born to be. My God, that day's gonna be something to see.

Jimmy came up. "Jake, it's Constantino." He handed Jake a radio. Constantino offered his condolences on the death of Johnston, then offered Jericho one last chance to stand down. "Jake, I need an answer. What's it gonna be?"

_Eric Jacob Green: World War Two. The winter of 1944. The Nazis penetrated the Allied lines and surrounded a division of Americans in a little town called Bastogne. They were freezing, starving, and running out of ammunition, but they knew they had to hold that ground. Just before Christmas, the Nazis sent a note to the American commander telling him that he could surrender and save the rest of his men. Or they could stay and fight. The American commander sent a one word reply to the Wermacht Commander. And it said…_

Jake exhaled in slight amusement as he replied to Constantino. "Nuts."

* * *

Jake gazed around at the people of Jericho at the Richmond farm. "My father expected us to make a stand here. To defend our home. That's what we're gonna do."

New Bern's men approached and got themselves into position. Jericho did the same. Jake commanded his men to wait for a clean shot. "Wait…wait…NOW!"

The war began.

* * *

**A/N: And here we are, friends, the end of season 1 with Jake and Heather winding up together.**

**I figured Maggie could just as well fill Heather's original role in the show-attempt to sabotage the factory and then warn the soldiers what was going on.**

**As for season 2 and beyond, you're on your own imagining how Jake/Heather go on. The story necessarily became less character-focused and I don't want to delve into that.**

**Thank you Shadowflame77 and 2merryann for you running commentary and firm support for Jake/Heather.**


End file.
